Court Opinion

ID: 9741240
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:52:11.109994+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:23.065308
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE BUCKLEY, dissenting: In determining whether a resulting trust exists under these circumstances, courts must ascertain the payor’s intent from the facts and circumstances shown by the record. In re Estate of McCormick, 262 Ill. App. 3d 163, 168 (1994). Such a factual determination is best left to the trial court and should not be disturbed unless it contradicts the manifest weight of the evidence. McCormick, 262 Ill. App. 3d at 168. The trial court’s factual determinations are due great deference and contradict the manifest weight of the evidence only if an opposite conclusion is clearly evident. Robbins v. Board of Trustees of the Carbondale Police Pension Fund, 177 Ill. 2d 533, 538 (1997). Sufficient evidence exists to support the trial court’s finding and, therefore, an opposite conclusion is not clearly evident. First, the mere payment of the consideration raises a prima facie presumption of a resulting trust. Hofferkamp v. Brehm, 273 Ill. App. 3d 263, 272 (1995). JSC does not dispute that the Kanes provided the consideration for the purchase. Further, Kathleen testified that the Kanes continued to provide money for the monthly payments. Kathleen’s testimony indicated that William Kane wanted to use this money to provide for his family (“his” meaning himself, his wife, his daughter and his grandchildren). Kathleen’s testimony also indicated that the Kanes provided money for the property, in part, so that they would have a place to stay when they visited their daughter and grandchildren. JSC simply failed to present evidence sufficiently persuasive to reject the trial court’s factual findings. The majority improperly reweighs the evidence to reach a conclusion opposite to that reached by the trial court. We cannot reweigh the evidence or substitute our judgment for that of the trial court, even if we may have ruled differently. See In re Marriage of Koberlein, 281 Ill. App. 3d 880, 885 (1996); Case v. Forloine, 266 Ill. App. 3d 120, 125 (1993). The evidence in this case was almost entirely testimonial. The trial court sat in a superior position to listen to that testimony, observe the witnesses’ demeanor, and judge their credibility. People v. Gonzalez, 184 Ill. 2d 402, 412 (1998). Because sufficient evidence exists in the record to support the trial court’s factual findings, we should affirm.