Citizens Bank of Massachusetts v. Coleman (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-063-13)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 12‑P‑365 Appeals Court CITIZENS BANK OF MASSACHUSETTS vs. PAMELA BAKER COLEMAN. No. 12‑P‑365. Suffolk. October 10, 2012. ‑ May 15, 2013. Present: Grasso, Fecteau, & Agnes, JJ. Husband and Wife, Conveyance between spouses. Trust, Resulting trust. Unjust Enrichment. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on June 16, 2005. The case was heard by Stephen E. Neel, J.; entry of judgment was ordered by Janet L. Sanders, J., and motions to alter or amend the judgment were heard by her. Steven B. Rosenthal for the defendant. Robert L. Hamer for the plaintiff. AGNES, J. The principal question presented by this appeal is whether the judge was correct in determining that the purported transfers of the beneficial interests in two pieces of real estate by a husband to his wife as an alleged estate planning maneuver failed and thereby gave rise to resulting trusts. We conclude that the judge was warranted in finding that at the time of the transfers the husband’s intent was to protect the two properties from his creditors, and that he did not intend to convey the beneficial interests to his wife. The combination of the husband’s intent and his wife’s tacit agreement to act as his agent supports the judge’s ruling that the two properties were held by the wife, as trustee, in resulting trusts for her husband’s benefit and thus were subject to reach and apply actions by his creditor. We therefore affirm. Background. The plaintiff, Citizens Bank of Massachusetts (Citizens Bank), brought this reach and apply action to obtain assets purportedly held by the defendant, Pamela Baker Coleman (wife), to satisfy debts owed by her husband, Martin J. Coleman, III (husband), a real estate developer. The case was tried without a jury. We summarize the pertinent facts, drawn from the judge’s findings of fact, rulings of law, and order of judgment. In April of 1983 and 1984, the husband purchased, in his own name, two multifamily rental properties (collectively, rental properties) in Waltham: 331-333 Grove Street (Grove Street property) and 156-158 Ash Street (Ash Street property). The judge found that the husband furnished all the consideration to acquire these properties. In 1986, the husband and wife were married, and the wife began managing the properties. The judge found that […]