An Ohio appeals court determines that several joint bank accounts opened by a decedent's attorney-in-fact belong to the decedent's estate (and therefore partially to a special needs trust established for the benefit of the decedent's son) because the attorney-in-fact did not have the authority to name herself as the joint owner of the account. In Re McCauley (Ohio.App.,5th No. 2011CA00272, Oct. 9, 2012).
Cletus McCauley died in December 2008, leaving a portion of his estate to an irrevocable special needs trust that Mr. McCauley and his wife had established for the benefit of their son, Kevin. Mr. McCauley's daughter, Paula Clark, was originally named as the executrix of his estate and as trustee of Kevin's trust, but she was replaced in 2010.
When the new executor filed his inventory, he did not include several bank accounts that Mr. McCauley owned jointly with Ms. Clark. Mr. McCauley set up one set of bank accounts (the "Charter One" accounts) on his own, but Ms. Clark named herself as the joint owner of another set of accounts (the "Huntington Bank" accounts) as her father's attorney-in-fact without him being present at the bank. Kevin's guardian objected to the inventory, arguing that the joint accounts were really estate assets that should partially flow to Kevin's special needs trust. The probate court ruled that the Huntington Bank accounts belonged to the estate, but that the Charter One accounts belonged to Ms. Clark. All of the parties appealed.
The Court of Appeals of Ohio, Fifth District, upholds the probate court's ruling. The court explains that "Decedent personally changed the Charter One Bank accounts to joint and survivorship accounts with [Ms. Clark]. Competent evidence was not presented to rebut the presumption [that Mr. McCauley intended to add Ms. Clark as a joint owner]." However, when it comes to the Huntington Bank accounts, the court finds that "the power of attorney in this case . . . is broadly written, but does not provide for the right to make gifts. . . the effect of establishing a fiduciary relationship via a power of attorney forestalls the gifts of the decedent's funds to the fiduciary, or the establishment of a joint and survivorship account using the power of attorney."