Home -> Law Blog Directory -> State Law Blogs -> Showmeblawgs

State Law

: Showmeblawgs

By stan_sipple

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District affirms Wright County Circuit Court judgment that imposed constructive trust on property son acquired from deceased father's assets for his three sisters, but limits the constructive trust to assets the sisters could trace to their brother and his spouse. Darryl Taylor-McDonald, and Nancy Kester, Plaintiffs/Respondents v. Phillip Gary Taylor, and Sheila Taylor, Individually, and Phillips G. Taylor and Sheila Taylor, as Co-Trustees of Revocable Living Trust, dated February 22, 1999, Defendants/Appellants.: 28088
"Daughters made a prima facie case for a constructive trust by showing that the brother and sister-in-law wrongfully spent Father's money on certain property. the court could order an accounting in connection with the constructive trust, to determine the disposition of Father's assets. The accounting enabled the trial court to trace which property in the defendants' possession was acquired with Father's funds and should be imposed with a constructive trust, as well as in the process discover other funds that were wrongfully spent by the defendants but which were not traceable into any particular property in their possession. The constructive trust can only be imposed upon the specifically identified property in the defendants' possession into which wrongfully appropriated funds were traced . In order to do full equity, however, the court has the authority to also enter a money judgment for "other" funds wrongfully spent by the defendants, but which were not traced into specific property. See Perry v. Perry, 484 S.W.2d 257, 259 (Mo. 1972) (equity includes money judgment); Skidmore v. Back, 512 S.W.2d 223, 232-33 (Mo.App. 1974). Nevertheless, the court can only enforce the constructive trust for the value of the funds traced into the identified property, and not for the total amount of its judgment. Campbell, 258 S.W.2d at 602

Full post as published by Showmeblawgs on January 13, 2008 (boomark / email).