Opinion ID: 1652426
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Gifts to children

Text: Ms. Skokos maintains that Mr. Skokos improperly funnelled $120,000 in gifts to their three children through two successive trusts established at a Texas bank after Ms. Skokos had filed for divorce. Ms. Skokos testified at trial that she believed some portion of these gifts should be charged back against Mr. Skokos but that she did not expect for her children to pay [her] back. Ms. Skokos seeks a 50-percent surcharge with respect to the total $120,000 because she believes the gifts were made without her knowledge and consent. Two trusts are at issue here. The first trustthe Theodore C. Skokos Irrevocable Trust No. 3was created on October 1, 1993, after Ms. Skokos's complaint for divorce had been filed. The corpus of Trust No. 3 was stock that Mr. Skokos, as grantor, conveyed to the Texas bank serving as trustee. The trust terminated on January 17, 1994, at which time gifts of $20,000 were made to each of the three Skokos children, for a total gift of $60,000. The second trustthe Theodore C. Skokos Irrevocable Trust No. 4was created on October 20, 1994, also after the filing of Ms. Skokos's complaint for divorce. The terms of Trust No. 4 provided that the trust would terminate on January 16,1995, at which time gifts of $20,000 would again be made to each of the three Skokos children. Trusts Nos. 3 and 4 were successors to a trust initially created by Mr. Skokos in 1992. The provisions of Trusts Nos. 3 and 4 were apparently the same as those established in connection with the 1992 trust. Ms. Skokos argues on appeal that she is entitled to a 50-percent surcharge against the $60,000 gift made through Trust No. 3 and the $60,000 gift made through Trust No. 4. It appears, however, that Ms. Skokos made no request to the Trial Court to impose any surcharge with respect to the latter gift. The summary of items to be surcharged to Ted Skokos that was prepared and submitted to the Trial Court by Ms. Skokos's accountant included only the $60,000 gift that was made in January 1994 through Trust No. 3 and did not refer to any gift that might have been made through Trust No. 4. Ms. Skokos's proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law refer to only one of the two $60,000 gifts at issue. No reference is made to a date or the identity of a particular trust, but we assume it refers to the gift that was made in January 1994 through Trust No. 3. In any event, the pleading does not refer to both gifts that are mentioned on appeal. We are not directed to any other place in the 15-volume abstract, and we have not located such a place, which demonstrates that Ms. Skokos requested the Chancellor to impose a surcharge on any gift made in connection with Trust No. 4. We are aware that counsel for Ms. Skokos mentioned Trust No. 4 in connection with an objection he raised in response to Mr. Skokos's testimony concerning the creation of the initial trust in 1992. Counsel objected that the testimony concerning the 1992 instrument was irrelevant because Ms. Skokos was complaining about ... the new trusts, Texas Trust Number Three and Four that Mr. Skokos created without Mrs. Skokos's agreement, and we think contrary ... to the spirit and the terms of the Court's ... restraining order entered when the divorce was filed. Even here, however, counsel voiced no request for a surcharge on any gift that might have been made through either trust. When Mr. Skokos later testified that the funds in Trust No. 4 had been frozen and that no gift had even been made to the children through that trust, counsel made no request for a surcharge and did not refute Mr. Skokos's claim. Counsel simply responded: Well, we would ask that those gifts be frozen, Your Honor, and that $60,000if it's still there, we're very happy that it's there. Even if Ms. Skokos had requested the Chancellor to impose a surcharge on any gift that the children may have received through Trust No. 4, the Chancellor's final decree does not address such a claim. The abstract does not otherwise indicate that the Chancellor made a ruling on that issue. For these reasons, we do not reach the merits of Ms. Skokos's claim asserting an entitlement to a 50-percent surcharge on any gift the Skokos children may have received through Trust No. 4. We decline to address an argument if the abstract does not show that it was made in the Trial Court, Webber v. Webber, 331 Ark. 395, 400, 962 S.W.2d 345 (1998), and ruled upon there. Sanders v. Bradley County Human Servs. Public Facilities Bd., 330 Ark. 675, 683, 956 S.W.2d 187, 191 (1997). The issue of Ms. Skokos's right to a surcharge on the gift made through Trust No. 3, however, is preserved for our review. Ms. Skokos clearly raised that issue with the Chancellor, and the Chancellor's order addressed, and rejected, the argument as follows: The three children received $20,000 each in early 1994 from a joint trust fund. The payments were made pursuant to a multi-year estate plan previously agreed upon by the parties. Plaintiff wants one half of each payment back, but wants Defendant to repay her rather than the children. The request lacks merit. We hold that the Chancellor's ruling is not clearly erroneous. There is ample evidence in the record that supports the Chancellor's conclusion that the gift through Trust No. 3 was not improperly made. The testimony showed that Trust No. 3 succeeded a trust that Mr. Skokos created in 1992 during a trip to Texarkana, Texas. Mr. Gelzine testified that he flew to Texarkana with Mr. and Ms. Skokos and their children and that they met with personnel from a Texarkana bank and executed the appropriate documents. Mr. Gelzine testified that he recommended the provision for the $20,000 per child gift in order to reduce the Skokoses' tax liability. Mr. Gelzine testified that, as far as he could determine, everyone was clear on what the provisions of the trust [were]. Mr. Skokos testified that he and Ms. Skokos visited at length about the creation of the 1992 trust and the provision for the gifts to the children. He testified that he and Ms. Skokos wanted to fashion the trust so that the children would receive the gift over a period of several years. According to Mr. Skokos, the terms of the successor trusts did not vary from those he had discussed with Ms. Skokos prior to the creation of the 1992 trust. In support of her claim that the gifts to the children under Trust No. 3 were improper, Ms. Skokos relies on Mr. Gelzine's concessions in his testimony that: (1) he helped prepare the trust documents but did so without seeking Ms. Skokos's input or involving her in the process; and (2) he prepared the trust documents at Mr. Skokos's direction and upon verifying with Mr. Kidd that he could go ahead and set up another Texas trust. Mr. Gelzine added, however, that Trust No. 3 was created only for tax-relief purposes. Whether or not Ms. Skokos was aware of, or consented to, the creation of Trust No. 3 and the $60,000 gift to her children that was authorized by the trust, we know of no authority that entitles a spouse to be reimbursed in a divorce proceeding for every nonconsensual transfer of marital funds made by the other spouse. Under the rule announced in Pierson v. Barkley, supra , and Ramsey v. Ramsey, supra , and the other cases cited above, it was necessary for Ms. Skokos to prove that Mr. Skokos effectuated that transfer of marital property (the $60,000) with the specific intent to defraud Ms. Skokos of her interest in that property. Proof of that sort is clearly lacking in the record.