Cook v. Brateng
Washington Court of Appeals
262 P.3d 1228 (2010)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
Elmer Cook created a living trust to provide for his own care during his lifetime. After Elmer’s death, the remainder of the trust would go primarily to his daughter, Diane Brateng (defendant), and his son, John Cook (plaintiff). The trust contained a provision requiring the trustee to report the trust’s financial activities to any income beneficiaries at least twice per year. Initially, Elmer and Brateng were cotrustees. As Elmer aged, he became incompetent, and Brateng became the sole trustee. Elmer had a nurse-caregiver for a period of time, but Brateng then became Elmer’s full-time caregiver. Brateng eventually moved Elmer into her house, where she cared for him for several years until his death. Brateng also cared for Elmer’s own house during this time. While Elmer was alive, John never asked Brateng for an accounting of the trust’s activities or inquired about the trust’s finances. After Elmer died, the trust contained Elmer’s house and approximately $16,500 in cash. Brateng submitted a claim to the trust for about $142,000 in unpaid caregiving expenses and services for the years that Brateng had cared for Elmer instead of paying for a nurse. Brateng’s claim was based on carefully maintained records of her expenses and time. John sued Brateng, claiming that Brateng was required to inform him before she made the decision to charge Elmer’s estate for her caregiving services instead of getting a mortgage on Elmer’s house to pay for a nurse to provide that care. The trial court found that Brateng had breached her duty to inform John about her intent to charge for her caregiving services and, therefore, could not now collect for these services. Brateng appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Bridgewater, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.