Court Opinion

ID: 9402223
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-15 15:11:17.062356+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:19:58.490741
License: Public Domain

#30086, #30094-r-SPM
2023 S.D. 26

                             IN THE SUPREME COURT
                                     OF THE
                            STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA

                                    ****

                             IN THE MATTER OF THE
                            ESTATE OF ROSE BEADLE,
                                  DECEASED.

                                    ****

                   APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
                      THE FIFTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
                    ROBERTS COUNTY, SOUTH DAKOTA

                                    ****

                   THE HONORABLE GREGORY MAGERA
                               Judge

                                    ****

PAMELA R. REITER of
Reiter Law Firm, LLC
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

RONALD A. PARSONS JR. of
Johnson, Janklow & Abdallah, LLP
Sioux Falls, South Dakota                     Attorneys for appellant Truman
                                              Raguse.

CHRIS A. NIPE
Mitchell, South Dakota                        Attorney for appellant Travis
                                              Raguse.

                                    ****

                                              ARGUED
                                              MARCH 22, 2023
                                              OPINION FILED 06/14/23
                                  ****

GORDON P. NIELSEN of
Delaney, Nielsen & Sannes, P.C.
Sisseton, South Dakota                   Attorneys for appellee Allen
                                         Riess.
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MYREN, Justice

[¶1.]        Rose Beadle’s temporary guardian and conservator changed Rose’s

investment accounts to eliminate Travis Raguse and Truman Raguse as her

beneficiaries. Although a court order authorized the guardian/conservator’s actions,

the court issued that order without a hearing and without notice to the

beneficiaries. After Rose died, the circuit court approved a final accounting and

terminated her guardianship/conservatorship. Travis and Truman appealed, but

this Court dismissed their appeals as moot. During the probate of Rose’s estate,

Travis and Truman filed petitions to determine title to Rose’s investment accounts.

The Estate’s personal representative moved for summary judgment on their

petitions to determine title. The circuit court granted summary judgment to the

Estate, and Travis and Truman filed timely appeals. We reverse and remand.

                         Facts and Procedural History

[¶2.]        Rose Beadle was in her 90s and living in assisted living when the

events surrounding this case began. Her husband, Lloyd, died in 2010 after over

sixty years of marriage. They had no children. Following Lloyd’s death, Rose had a

spouse-like relationship with Darryl Raguse until he died in 2019. Darryl had four

grandchildren, including Travis and Truman. In 2012, through a durable power of

attorney for financial account matters, Rose designated Travis as her attorney-in-

fact.

[¶3.]        Rose owned investment accounts at Edward Jones. The beneficiary

acknowledgment form associated with these accounts listed six of her nieces and

nephews as primary beneficiaries of the accounts to receive equal portions of the

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assets transferable on death (TOD). After Travis became Rose’s attorney-in-fact,

the TOD beneficiaries of these accounts were changed to Travis and his brother,

Truman. 1 0F

[¶4.]          In February 2019, Travis was charged with embezzling from Rose from

2013 through 2018. In January 2020, he pled no contest to grand theft by

embezzlement, was granted a suspended imposition of sentence, and ordered to pay

$172,857.85 in restitution to Rose.

[¶5.]          In August 2019, the circuit court entered an order appointing G. Todd

Garry as a temporary guardian and conservator for Rose. The order gave him “all

of the powers as set forth in SDCL 29A-5-411.” Neither Travis nor Truman received

notice of this appointment. In September 2019, Garry petitioned the circuit court

for permission to establish conservator checking and investment accounts.

Specifically, he sought to close Rose’s Edward Jones investment accounts that were

TOD to Travis and Truman and create new accounts that did not include those TOD

designations. No hearing was held on the petition, yet the circuit court entered an

order granting the petition on October 23, 2019. Pursuant to the circuit court’s

order, Garry removed Truman and Travis as TOD beneficiaries on these accounts.

[¶6.]          In November 2019, Allen Riess (Rose’s nephew) and Garry filed a

petition requesting the circuit court to appoint Riess as guardian and co-conservator

and Garry as co-conservator. Truman and Travis did not receive notice of this

1.      There are unresolved allegations that Travis accomplished these changes
        through undue influence or through a self-dealing exercise of his authority as
        attorney-in-fact.

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petition. The circuit court entered an order appointing Riess and Garry on

November 25, 2019.

[¶7.]        Rose died in February 2020. In March 2020, Riess petitioned for

formal probate of Rose’s will. Following a contested hearing, the circuit court

appointed Riess as personal representative and admitted Rose’s will to formal

probate.

[¶8.]        In April 2020, Riess and Garry petitioned for termination of the

guardianship and conservatorship and requested approval of their final accounting.

Travis and Truman were not given notice of these requests. On June 16, 2020, the

circuit court entered an order approving the final accounting and terminated the

guardianship and conservatorship. On October 20, 2020, the guardian/conservators

gave notice of entry of the October 23, 2019 order and the June 16, 2020 order to

Travis through an attorney who was assisting him on another matter. This notice

of entry was not provided to Truman or his attorney.

[¶9.]        On November 18, 2020, Travis filed a timely appeal of the October 23,

2019 order. This notice of appeal did not include the June 16, 2020 order. Although

he had received no notice of entry, Truman filed his appeal on February 24, 2021.

He appealed the October 23, 2019 order and the June 16, 2020 order. Truman and

Travis both filed a notice of intention to file a statement of the proceedings under

SDCL 15-26A-54. On March 31, 2021, the circuit court entered two statements of

the proceedings in which it found that Travis and Truman had not received any

notice before or after the court entered its order approving the change in

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beneficiaries. 2 It also found that no hearing had been held before the entry of that
                1F

order.

[¶10.]         On May 20, 2021, counsel for Riess, Attorney Gordon Nielsen, issued a

notice of entry to Travis and Truman that included all orders in the

guardianship/conservatorship file. On June 18, 2021, Travis filed an amended

notice of appeal in which he attempted to add the June 16, 2020 order to the orders

he was appealing.

[¶11.]         This Court issued orders to show cause in Travis’ appeal and Truman’s

appeal, asking the parties to address jurisdiction and mootness. In his response to

the order to show cause in each file, Riess asked this Court to dismiss both appeals

and asserted the probate court was the appropriate place for Travis and Truman to

assert their claims. 32F

[¶12.]         This Court ruled that Travis’ November 18, 2020 appeal was timely

but he only appealed the order dated October 23, 2019. His subsequent attempt on

2.       Statements of proceedings are authorized by SDCL 15-26A-54 and allow the
         appellant, in certain instances, to prepare a “statement of the proceedings
         from the best available means” and submit it to the trial court for approval.

3.       Specifically, Riess stated:

               In addition, the conservatorship has been closed and the assets
               transferred to the Rose Beadle Probate estate which is not a
               party to this action. It is not possible for the Conservators to be
               directed to distribute assets that they don’t have especially
               when the actions of the Conservators and the accounting of the
               Conservators have been approved by Court Order and their
               letters of guardianship and conservatorship have been revoked.
               As argued in Appellee’s brief, Appellants should seek a remedy
               in the Probate Estate, which is open. Not in the
               Conservatorship Estate, which has been closed by Court order
               and by operation of law.

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June 18, 2021 to expand his appeal to include the June 16, 2020 order was

ineffectual because it was not timely. Although Travis’ appeal of the October 23,

2019 order was timely, this Court dismissed the appeal as moot. Truman’s timely

appeal was dismissed on the same grounds. In each order, this Court indicated

those appeals were moot because “this Court can no longer grant effectual relief of

the challenged orders” because of Rose’s death and the termination of the

guardianship and conservatorship.

[¶13.]       On November 2, 2020, before the dismissal of the appeals in the

guardianship/conservatorship proceedings, Riess petitioned the probate court to

determine title to the Edward Jones accounts. However, after this Court dismissed

the appeals of the guardianship/conservatorship orders, Riess withdrew that

petition. On January 5, 2022, Truman filed a petition to determine the title to the

funds from the Edward Jones accounts. On January 24, 2022, Travis filed the same

petition.

[¶14.]       On May 3, 2022, Riess moved for summary judgment on the petitions

filed by Travis and Truman. In contrast to the argument he made to this Court on

appeal regarding the guardianship/conservatorship orders, Riess argued that the

final order approving the termination and final accounting “extinguishe[d] any and

all legal claims by Travis and Truman Raguse to the Edward Jones investment

accounts.” Riess further argued that because this Court dismissed the appeals in

the guardianship and conservatorship case, “there is no legal claim to be brought by

the Raguses in the probate file.” Travis and Truman opposed the Estate’s request

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for summary judgment. The circuit court issued an order granting the Estate’s

motion for summary judgment, and Truman and Travis filed timely appeals.

                                Standard of Review

[¶15.]       “‘We review a circuit court’s entry of summary judgment under the de

novo standard of review.’ We will affirm a circuit court’s ‘grant of a motion for

summary judgment when no genuine issues of material fact exist, and the legal

questions have been correctly decided.’” Harvieux v. Progressive N. Ins. Co., 2018

S.D. 52, ¶ 9, 915 N.W.2d 697, 700 (citation omitted) (quoting Wyman v. Bruckner,

2018 S.D. 17, ¶ 9, 908 N.W.2d 170, 174).

             Whether this Court’s dismissal of the guardianship/
             conservatorship appeals as moot precluded the probate
             court from determining issues related to the title of the
             Edward Jones accounts.
[¶16.]       “[A]n appeal will be dismissed as moot where, before the appellate

decision, there has been a change of circumstances or the occurrence of an event by

which the actual controversy ceases and it becomes impossible for the appellate

court to grant effectual relief.” Larson v. Krebs, 2017 S.D. 39, ¶ 13, 898 N.W.2d 10,

15–16 (alteration in original) (quoting Sullivan v. Sullivan, 2009 S.D. 27, ¶ 11, 764

N.W.2d 895, 899). The Estate contends that this Court’s dismissal of the

guardianship/conservatorship appeals effectively affirmed the circuit court’s

decisions and precluded the probate court from addressing any claims regarding the

title to the Edward Jones accounts. The Estate misunderstands the meaning of our

orders of dismissal. We dismissed the appeals in the guardianship/conservatorship

proceeding because they were “rendered moot by Rose Beadle’s death on February

8, 2020, and by entry of the circuit court’s final order of June 16, 2020, approving

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termination of the guardianship and conservatorship and the final accounting, as

this Court can no longer grant effectual relief of the challenged orders.” There was

no longer a guardianship or conservatorship because the circuit court’s order had

terminated it. The probate court has the authority to resolve any disputes

regarding the ownership of Rose’s investment accounts. SDCL 29A-3-105. 4       3F

               Whether the October 23, 2019 order entered in the
               guardianship/conservatorship was valid.

[¶17.]         Travis and Truman asked the probate court to determine whether the

prior order authorizing the conservator to change the investment accounts was void

because it was issued without notice to the beneficiaries and without a hearing.

Garry was a temporary guardian and conservator when he requested court

authorization to make these changes to the Edward Jones accounts. “A temporary

guardian or conservator shall have only those powers and duties which are

specifically set forth in the order of appointment.” SDCL 29A-5-315. The order

appointing him as temporary guardian and conservator gave him all the powers

4.       SDCL 29A-3-105 provides in part:

               Persons interested in decedents’ estates . . . may petition the
               court for orders in formal proceedings within the court’s
               jurisdiction including but not limited to those described in this
               article. . . . The court has jurisdiction of any other action or
               proceeding concerning a succession or to which an estate,
               through a personal representative, may be a party, including
               actions to determine title to property, and of any action or
               proceeding in which property distributed by a personal
               representative or its value is sought to be subjected to rights of
               creditors or successors of the decedent.

(Emphasis added.)

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under SDCL 29A-5-411. While that statute contains a broad authorization of

powers, it does not include the power to make changes to a protected person’s estate

plan. Instead, SDCL 29A-5-420 provides that, upon petition, a court may authorize

a conservator to make such changes. 5 That statute requires that “[n]o order may be
                                    4F

5.    SDCL 29A-5-420 provides in part:

            Upon petition therefor, the court may authorize a conservator to
            exercise any of the powers over the estate or financial affairs of a
            protected person which the protected person could have
            exercised if present and not under conservatorship, including
            the powers:
            ...
            (7) To withdraw funds from a multiple-party bank account as
                defined in § 29A-6-101, to change the beneficiary on or
                dispose of any payable or transfer on death arrangement as
                defined in § 29A-6-113, or to dispose of any property
                specifically given under the protected person’s will; or
            (8) To make, amend, or revoke a will.

            The court, in authorizing the conservator to exercise any of the
            above powers, shall primarily consider the decision which the
            protected person would have made, to the extent that the
            decision can be ascertained. The court shall also consider the
            financial needs of the protected person and the needs of legal
            dependents for support, possible reduction of income, estate,
            inheritance or other tax liabilities, eligibility for governmental
            assistance, the protected person’s prior pattern of giving or level
            of support, the existing estate plan, the protected person’s
            probable life expectancy, the probability that the
            conservatorship will terminate prior to the protected person’s
            death, and any other factors which the court believes pertinent.

            No order may be entered under this section unless notice of
            hearing is first given to the protected person, to the beneficiaries
            of the protected person’s estate plan, and to the individuals who
            would succeed to the protected person’s estate by intestate
            succession and, if known, to any attorney or financial advisor
            who advised the protected person within the last five years. No
            trust or will may be amended or revoked without prior notice of
                                                            (continued . . .)
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entered under this section unless notice of hearing is first given to . . . the

beneficiaries of the protected person’s estate plan[.]” SDCL 29A-5-420. The Estate

contends that SDCL 29A-5-419 6 allows the circuit court to authorize any action by
                                 5F

the conservator, even when that action would violate the express requirements of

another statute governing the authority of conservators. In SDCL 29A-5-420, the

Legislature established the authority and required procedure for a court to

authorize a conservator to alter a protected person’s estate plan. The suggestion

that SDCL 29A-5-419 allows the circuit court to ignore that required procedure is

misguided. SDCL 29A-5-420 requires notice to the beneficiaries and a hearing

before a circuit court can authorize a conservator to change a protected person’s

TOD designation.

[¶18.]        At oral argument, all parties acknowledged that the October 23, 2019

order authorizing the conservator to remove the TOD beneficiaries on Rose’s

Edward Jones accounts was entered without notice to the beneficiaries and without

________________________
(. . . continued)
               hearing to the trustee or nominated personal representative
               thereof.

(Emphasis added.)

6.       SDCL 29A-5-419 provides:

              Nothing in this chapter prohibits the court from limiting the
              powers which may otherwise be exercised by a guardian or
              conservator without prior court authorization, from authorizing
              transactions which might otherwise be prohibited, nor from
              granting additional powers to a guardian or conservator.
              Nothing in this chapter prohibits a guardian or conservator from
              seeking court authorization, instructions, or ratification for any
              actions, proposed actions, or omissions to act.

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hearing. 7 Consequently, the order is void as a matter of law. See Lessert v. Lessert,
           6F

64 S.D. 3, 263 N.W. 559, 561 (1935) (judgment was void when “it was beyond the

power and authority of the court which rendered it.”). On remand, the probate

court retains full authority to resolve any and all claims regarding the ownership of

those accounts.

[¶19.]          We reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this

opinion.

[¶20.]          JENSEN, Chief Justice, and KERN, SALTER, and DEVANEY,

Justices, concur.

7.       The parties’ acknowledgements that Truman and Travis were not provided a
         full and fair opportunity to litigate in the guardianship/conservatorship
         proceedings also precludes the Estate’s contention that Truman and Travis
         are barred by res judicata with respect to any determinations in that
         proceeding.

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