Opinion ID: 179830
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Citation Respondents

Text: Dexia served on Peter Rogan, Judith Rogan, and Fredrick Cuppy citations to discover assets. The Rogan Children argue that there was insufficient evidence that any of these citation respondents held Rogan's property. They assert that neither Peter nor Judith have been shown to be in possession of any assets held by the Trusts which are the property of Peter Rogan. (Appellant Br. 41.) Likewise, they assert that no evidence was presented at trial showing that Cuppy was in possession of such assets, and that he was removed as trustee of the Domestic Trusts by order of the district court. The Rogan Children argue that because these third parties did not possess assets of the judgment debtor, the district court had no authority to enter a judgment against them. The Rogan Children's argument is misplaced. The district court did not find that any of these respondents personally possessed assets of Roganthat was not the relevant inquiry. In ordering the turnover of assets the court found that Dexia was entitled to turnover of the assets of the Trusts (excluding $30,000) because the Trusts themselves held the property of Rogan, the judgment debtor. He funded the Trusts through money fraudulently obtained and never relinquished control of those assets once they were placed in the Trusts. To effectuate turnover, the district court terminated any interests held by the Rogan Children in those Trusts (except for $30,000), ordered any existing trustee to turn over the assets to Dexia, and directed Dexia to file a motion for the appointment of a trustee for any Trust that did not currently have a trustee so that the court could appoint a trustee who would be ordered to turn trust assets over to Dexia. This order against the Trusts was consistent with the citation that Dexia issued to Cuppy. The citation stated that it was being issued to Cuppy [i]ndividually, as partner in the law firm of Burke Costanza & Cuppy, and as an agent, trustee, and/or lawyer for any person/entity identified in Rider A. (Supp. App. 168.) Rider A plainly identified the Rogan Children Trusts as entities to which the citation applied. Thus, the Trusts themselves were respondents. In addition, Rogan was a citation respondent. By serving these citations, Dexia perfected its judgment lien on all personal property belonging to Rogan that was in his possession or control, or in the possession or control of the third-party Trusts. 735 ILCS § 5/2-1402(m). Although the Rogan Children think it important that Cuppy was removed as the trustee prior to the issuance of the turnover order, they present no authority showing that his removal as trustee meant that the Trusts were no longer citation respondents, or that the district court was no longer empowered to compel assets within the Trusts to satisfy the judgment. The district court specifically allowed for the appointment of a new trustee, upon which occurrence the court would order the new trustee to turn over the assets of the Trusts. We find no error.