Summary
holding allegations that bank failed to title account as survivorship account as instructed by depositor, and, consequently, assets improperly came under control of depositor's PR instead of under control of intended beneficiaries, sufficiently pled elements of constructive trust
Summary of this case from Lefkowitz v. SchwartzOpinion
No. 97-0148
Opinion filed August 5, 1998 JULY TERM 1998
Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Edward Fine, Judge; L.T. No. CL 96-3120 AI.
Peter J. Forman of Tescher Chaves Rubin Forman Muller, P.A., Boca Raton, for appellant.
Holly R. Skolnick, Elliot H. Scherker, Gary D. Weinfeld, and Charles S. Kyriazos of Greenberg Traurig Hoffman Lipoff Rosen Quentel, P.A., Miami, for appellee.
Appellants appeal the dismissal of their four count complaint. We reverse the dismissal as to one count, finding appellants sufficiently pled the elements of a constructive trust.
The Florida Supreme Court has held:
A constructive trust is properly imposed when, as a result of a mistake in a transaction, one party is unjustly enriched at the expense of another. Although this equitable remedy is usually limited to circumstances in which fraud or a breach of confidence has occurred, it is proper in cases in which one party has benefitted by the mistake of another at the expense of a third party.
In re estate of Tolin, 622 So.2d 988, 990 (Fla. 1993).
Here, appellants' complaint alleged that appellee held certain assets from a Belgian bank account as the personal representative of the estate of Flore Lesieur. Appellants alleged further that Flore Lesieur had deposited the assets in the Belgian bank account with the instruction that the account be set up as a survivor ship account so that appellants would own the assets automatically upon the death of Lesieur. Finally, appellants alleged that the bank, contrary to Lesieur's instructions, failed to title the account as a survivor ship account, and therefore the assets came under the control of appellee upon Lesieur's death. We find that appellants successfully pled facts that, if proven, would support the imposition of a constructive trust.
Accordingly, we reverse the dismissal of the count in appellants' complaint seeking the imposition of a constructive trust. We affirm the dismissal of the remaining three counts, and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
GLICKSTEIN, GROSS, JJ., and GOLDENBERG, RENEE, Associate Judge, concur.