Panich

FACTS

Pleading After several rounds of pleading, Panich filed a second amended complaint against Jeffrey as trustee of the Trust and administrator/executor of the Estate. She alleged that Joseph agreed to invest and manage over a million dollars that she obtained after selling her residence, and that he took “a substantial amount of those funds.” Panich alleged causes of action for elder financial abuse, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty and money had and received. In his answer, Jeffrey asserted a multitude of affirmative defenses, including laches. He also alleged that the action was equitably barred because Panich and her attorney-in-fact, Sanders Chase (Chase): (1) waited until after Joseph died to sue, and (2) attempted to have Jeffrey investigated or indicted for forgery of Joseph’s signature without making an effort to determine whether Jeffrey had authorization from Joseph, or power of attorney from Joseph.

2 Trial The Joint Accounts On September 6, 2005, Panich wrote a check to herself for $1,224,054.39 from a Wells Fargo account and deposited the money into an account at Premier America Credit Union (Premier America). The source of the funds was the sale of her…