Opinion ID: 1764161
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Conservatorship of Cara Sneed Pyle

Text: On October 30, 1997, Nevin was appointed conservator for Cara Sneed Pyle, a nursing home resident, and he received $82,551.70 from a prior conservator. The property management plan adopted by the probate court in July 1997 reflected that Pyle's expenses exceeded her income and that her funds would be depleted in eight to ten months. On December 8, 1997, the probate court ordered Nevin to list Pyle's house and seventeen acres of land with a real estate agent and to sell the contents of Pyle's house at a public auction. Although the sale of Pyle's personal property garnered $36,237.57, Nevin did not comply with the order requiring him to list Pyle's house and seventeen acres for sale. On December 17, 1997, Nevin used Pyle's funds to buy a six-month certificate of deposit (CD) for $50,000, even though the property management plan indicated that Pyle would need the money for living expenses prior to the CD's maturity date. In March 1998, Nevin bought a second six-month CD for $20,000. In May 1998, when Pyle's funds became insufficient to pay her expenses, Nevin transferred $25,000 from his client trust account to Pyle's conservatorship account. Nevin testified that he did not liquidate the CDs because of the penalties for early withdrawal and because he did not believe anyone would be harmed: Her conservatorship account was low on funds that were necessary to pay her living expenses. The $50,000 certificate of deposit was going to mature the next month, and if I had redeemed that early, there would have been a penalty for early withdrawal. . . . I knew at the time as the fiduciary over her funds and of the funds in the trust account that no one would lose any money. It was not going to be necessary to pay any clients that had funds in the trust account that sum of money. There would be a sufficient balance to meet any obligations to clients that had funds in the trust account. And if it was absolutely necessary, I controlled the $50,000 certificate of deposit where I could have redeemed that. So I thought at the time that it was prudent and in her best interest to do that. Nevin admitted that the money in his trust account belonged to his other clients and that he did not debit the $25,000 from a specific client's account. On May 28, 1998, Nevin entered into a contract to sell 345 acres of Pyle's land for $890,000 without first seeking the required court approval for the sale. Nevin received $250,000 in earnest money, which he deposited into his client trust account rather than into Pyle's conservatorship account. According to Nevin, the money was not Pyle's unless the Court approved the sale. A few weeks later, however, Nevin bought a 90-day CD for $300,000 by using the $250,000 in earnest money, along with an additional $50,000 that came from his client trust account or from Pyle's funds. Nevin did not know the exact source of the $50,000 because he failed to make a notation indicating that his client trust account funds had been used to purchase the CD. Other evidence revealed that Nevin transferred funds between his client trust account and Pyle's conservatorship account. When the $50,000 CD matured, Nevin deposited the proceeds into his trust account. Although Nevin claimed that he did so to repay the $25,000 that he had advanced to Pyle in May 1998, he made no entry to support his contention. On another occasion, Nevin transferred $20,000 to Pyle's account from his trust account as an advance on the $20,000 CD that had yet to mature. When that CD matured, Nevin deposited the proceeds into his trust account without making a notation of the transaction. Finally, Nevin also sold Pyle's stocks and bonds, at least five of which amounted to over $1,000 each, despite knowing that court approval was required for transactions over $1,000. Although Nevin testified that he intended to get authorization or ratification of [his] acts afterwards from the court, he never did. Nevin admitted that he had opened a conservatorship account for Pyle and that her money should not have gone into his client trust account. He further admitted that money he transferred into Pyle's conservatorship account belonged to other clients. Nevertheless, he insisted that he did not put his clients at risk and that his actions did not violate disciplinary rules. Nevin acknowledged that as Pyle's conservator he was obligated to adhere to the property management plan approved by the court and that there was no property plan or order to sell the 345 acres. Moreover, he did not file a petition seeking court approval for the sale until September 1998, after he had placed the earnest money in his trust account. [2] Although Nevin denied that he misappropriated Pyle's money, he conceded that his malpractice insurance carrier paid a settlement of $75,000 to Pyle's children. Nevin's payments to Pyle's nursing home were in arrears. Moreover, he admitted that he had to return $25,000 he owed to Pyle's account after withdrawing as her conservator.