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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2006-01-25, Page 1Wednesday, January 25 2006 Exeter Times–Advocate 3 Trivitt Memorial, Grimes estate reach settlement By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF GODERICH — In a settlement reached last Friday between Trivitt Memorial Anglican Church and the Mildred Grimes estate, the estate trustees will receive about half the compensation they claimed. The deal was reached during a break in a hearing at the Goderich Court House presided over by Judge John McGarry. The hearing was to determine how much compensa- tion trustees would receive of the Grimes estate, valued at about $5.5 million. In her will, Grimes, who died in December 2003, left about $5 million to Exeter's Trivitt Memorial, a move which solved the church's financial problems. The trustees of the estate, Exeter's Edna Sims and Peter Raymond, had claimed five per cent of the estate, a 'rule of thumb' figure in trustee compensation. The church, though, wanted a judge to determine the compensation and legal fees. Sims and Raymond were claiming $292,257.64, which they would split. Under the deal reached Friday, they will instead split $150,000. Legal fees up until June 2005 the church will pay were also reduced $20,000 to $29,227.64. Technically, the estate will pay the fees, but it comes out of the money the church would have otherwise received. Asked why the two sides decided on the settlement Friday, lawyer for the Sims family Gordon Cudmore said a settlement is "better" in these cases because it leads to fewer bad feelings. "Both parties have to compromise," he said. "And I think when you can get people to settle, no one comes away a winner and then no one comes away a loser." Church lawyer Doug Skinner agreed a settlement was preferable. "It's always better to have a resolution between the parties that you can both live with as opposed to having someone render a decision which you don't have the same control over." Seventeen -year-old Phil Coeck of the Mount Carmel area recently received a Junior Optimist Octagon International (f OOI) President's Citation, recognizing his work with Optimist. Coeck was the only JOOI member in Ontario to receive the citation this year. Advisor Brenda Feeney says each year a JOOI mem- ber is honoured for making JOOI a major priority in their lives by devoting more time and energy to vol- unteer service than their fellow members. Feeney calls Coeck a "remarkable motivator" who encourages everyone to achieve greater heights within them- selves. He received a framed certificate and a congrat- ulations letter from the JOOI international president. Above, Feeney presents the citation to Coeck at the annual JOOI Christmas dinner in Dashwood. (photo/submitted) Asked if he was satisfied with the deal, Cudmore said, "Whether or not I'm satisfied really doesn't matter. I think one of the questions is whether or not Mildred Grimes would have been satisfied. And I'm not sure that Mildred Grimes would have been pleased that the church took on the executors." Cudmore said the process has been "extremely diffi- cult" for the Sims family. "All Edna wanted to do was what her dear friend asked her to do and I think when it turned into the need to go to court and figures being challenged, it turned into something that she never wanted, never asked for . .. and it was never about the money. It was about doing what her friend wanted and her friend would have never wanted this." On the stand Friday, Sims said she knew Grimes, her mother-in-law's first cousin, for about 25 years. Originally from Toronto, Grimes retired to the Exeter area in the mid-1980s, eventually moving into the Exeter Villa until her death at 98. When asked by estate lawyer Kim McLean why Grimes, a Presbyterian, would leave the majority of her estate to an Anglican church such as Trivitt, Sims said Grimes had asked her if the church needed any money. When Sims said yes, Grimes was going to leave her money to the Anglican diocese, but Sims persuaded her to leave it specifically to Trivitt because she told Grimes the Exeter church wouldn't receive much of the estate if it was left to the diocese. Grimes, a successful businesswoman, made wise investments and worked for Victory Mills with leg- endary Canadian businessman E.P. Taylor. Her hus- band, Matt Grimes, an executive with CPR, died in 1977. The couple had no children. Sims, a member of Trivitt for the last 53 years includ- ing the last 30 as a member of the board, explained the work she did in her role as one of the Grimes estate's trustees, which included many meetings. She estimated she spent between 80-100 hours attending to the estate. Under questioning by Skinner, Sims said she relied on McLean's office for the account keeping of the Grimes estate. Two sets of accounts were prepared, the first which raised a number of objections by the church's solicitor. Under the first set of accounts, Sims and Raymond claimed $365,465.10 in compensation because of an accounting error that saw $500,000 counted twice as revenue, making the estate value seem higher. When the mistake was found, the compensation claim was reduced to $292,257.64. McGarry later said he didn't understand how a $500,000 mistake could be made. Estate assets were handled at first by RBC Dominion Securities and then transferred to Scotia Cassels near the end of 2004. Between December 2003 and December 2004, Sims said decisions about the sale of the estate assets were made by RBC and Scotia Cassels. Referring to Sims' earlier statement about working 80-100 hours on the estate, Skinner said in a signed affidavit in December 2005, Sims estimated that num- ber to be 57 hours between December 2003 and October 2005. He asked her the reason for the differ- ence in hours. Sims said she didn't think she'd have to record all her hours and that a number of pieces of information weren't written down because she didn't think she'd have to go to court. She said she went through her cal- endar to determine her hours. "If you think I'm lying, I'm sorry," she said. When asked by Skinner if she also based some of her calculations on the McLean office's legal records to jog her memory, Sims said she had. "It's a logical thing to do," McGarry said. "If you were awarding some compensation for pain and suffering, I'd be up to 1,000 hours," Sims said, "Both part to compro he said."A when you people to one comes winner and one comes loser." GORD0 SIMS FAMI adding she has experienced many sleepless nights through the process. Under questioning by McGarry, Sims said Raymond, a retired lawyer and former partner with McLean, took care of the legal aspect while she took care of the more personal side of the estate. Sales of Grimes' personal items took place when she entered the Exeter Villa and after her death. Sims received power of attorney fees of $70,000 upon Grimes' death. She also received $25,000 in Grimes' will as well as dishes and silverware. Part of the trustees' claim included 2.5 per cent of the $70,000 Sims received for power of attorney fees. "That would have been Mildred's wish," Sims said. Raymond said he's been retired since 1996 and has had no interest in the Raymond and McLean law firm in Exeter since 1999. He said the legal fees charged by the firm don't benefit him. He said Grimes' assets were held by RBC Dominion Securities at the time of her death. When the church searched for some- one to manage the money, Scotia was cho- sen. Raymond said he and Sims were hesitant to make the transfer because the stock market was going up and the value of the estate was increasing. He said he was wor- ried the market would fall and decided to transfer the money while stocks were in an upswing. Through that time, the value of the estate increased about $400,000. Raymond said he worked about 62 hours on the Grimes' estate from the time of her death until Jan. 20, 2006. He added he didn't think compensation was awarded based on hours worked. Raymond said during his law career he didn't necessarily advise estate trustees to claim five per cent of the estate's value — he said it would depend on a number of factors. He said in this case he and Sims requested the five per cent because it's a "rule of thumb." He referred to the estate as "found money" and "a windfall for the church." McGarry later added five per cent of a substantial estate is also a windfall for the trustees. Skinner responded that five per cent of the Grimes' estate would amount to more than $3,000/hour in com- pensation for the trustees. Under further questioning, Raymond said he didn't ask Grimes if compensation should be five per cent. ies have mise, nd I think can get settle, no away a then no away a N CUDMORE LY LAWYER Municipality of MUNICIPALITY OF Bluewater Notice of BLUEWATER Public Meeting 2001 Water/Sewage Rates Pursuant to Ontario Regulation 244/02, the Municipality of Bluewater hereby gives notice of intent to pass a by-law to establish new water and sewage rates for municipal systems. Any person may make presentations regarding the pro- posed by-law on: Saturday, February 11, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. Stanley Municipal Complex, 38594 B Mill Road, West of Varna The purpose of the proposed by-law is to change the water and sewage rates currently in force to reflect the costs of operating the systems. This will affect the users of the water systems in Zurich, Hensall, Lakeshore (Hay, Stanley and part of Bayfield), Harbour Lights, and Carriage Lane, and the users of the sewage sys- tems in Zurich, Hensall and Bayfield. The municipality has been reviewing the rate charges during 2005. An earlier public meeting was held in June 2005. A summary of the proposed rates Council is considering was mailed to every affected property owner and is available at 110 charge at the Municipal Office in Zurich. 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