In 1994, Elaine Renoire was appointed guardian of the estate and person of her grandmother, Mary Gertrude Fisher, and was ordered to file an inventory and accounting later that same year. Mrs. Fisher was eventually moved from a nursing home into the home of her daughter, Marianne Schwartz, without court approval, and Ms. Schwartz became her mother's primary caregiver. Ms. Renoire failed to file her first accounting with the trial court until 1998. This accounting was objected to by Mrs. Fisher's son, John Schwartz. Ms. Renoire then filed a motion for change of venue. Mr. Schwartz later filed a petition requesting that the trial court remove Ms. Renoire as guardian of the estate. The motion for change of venue was denied, and the trial court granted Mr. Schwartz's petition and removed Ms. Renoire as the guardian of the estate.
Both Ms. Renoire and Ms. Schwartz filed petitions for compensation and reimbursement of expenses in the amounts of $122,399.64 and $312,000, respectively. The trial court granted the petitions, but not in the full amounts requested, awarding $35,000 to Ms. Renoire and $65,000 to Ms. Schwartz.
Ms. Renoire and Ms. Schwartz appealed, contending that the trial court abused its discretion in removing Mrs. Renoire as estate guardian, awarding them significantly less than the amount of compensation they requested and denying the request for a change of venue. Mr. Schwartz cross-appealed, arguing that Ms. Renoire and Ms. Schwartz's requests for compensation were time-barred and that there was no implied agreement for compensation.
The Court of Appeals of Indiana rules that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it removed Mrs. Renoire as the estate guardian. The court also holds that although Ms. Renoire's and Ms. Schwartz's claims for compensation were not time barred and they had established that there was an implied agreement for compensation with the guardianship, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it awarded far less than they had requested. The court remands for a hearing and ruling on a change of venue.
Subscribe to the Knowledge Bank.
