Opinion ID: 1918200
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Proceedings before the Special Master

Text: On March 25, 2003, the Probate Division removed Ms. Royster as personal representative of Mr. Drake's estate and appointed a Special Master to investigate certain allegations about her handling of the estate. Three months later, on June 25, the Special Master issued a Preliminary Report to the probate court, in the course of which he invited interested parties to state their objections to the inventory and statements of account previously filed by Ms. Royster. Mrs. Drake filed exceptions to the Special Master's Preliminary Report on July 24, asserting that numerous marital assets had been wrongfully diverted into the trusts. On May 10, 2004, the Special Master issued a Final Report and Recommendation, concluding that Mrs. Drake could not substantiate her claims of any impropriety on the part of Ms. Royster and that the Settlement Agreement barred Mrs. Drake from asserting claims against either the estate or Ms. Royster. The Special Master also approved Ms. Royster's statements of account. Mrs. Drake filed an objection to the Special Master's Final Report, stating that after reviewing various court records and other documents, she was convinced that the [Q Street] property may have been illegally converted from an estate asset to a Trust asset, that it may have been illegally sold, and that the proceeds from that sale may have been fraudulently converted to Trust and/or possibly personal assets. Mrs. Drake asserted that because Taurus was not incorporated, Mr. Drake purchased the Q Street property in his individual capacity and that the property should therefore be considered an estate asset. According to Mrs. Drake, Designmark sought surreptitiously to place itself in the position of Taurus, and someone yet known [ sic ] [6] was able to manipulate apparent estate property into the Trust. Mrs. Drake asked the Special Master to order Mr. McNair to produce any documents related to Taurus's purchase and Designmark's sale of the Q Street property, and in addition to disclose his personal involvement in preparation of the Confirmatory Substitute Trustee's Deed. Despite Mrs. Drake's objections, the probate court, in a brief order, approved the Special Master's Final Report on July 9, 2004.