WPC# # t U: % 0 w@ 4  # 0D+ 0Jo 0T 0^  0hk 0r 0|E 0 0G 1u 0dL AQ 0D 0@  BK D/hU* B D3U>B)ODCx AMsv~1v 0? 0D"HP LaserJet 4SiHPPCL5MS,,,,,,0nLh,cAZ"Arial RegularX(~$  HTR[A' LegalLh (Avery 4167 Post CardA' Legalh (Avery 4167 Post CardTXmXXX73XXdXXd7 DDDDӀz=#3|xH($$   1  2 0Indent123  2" 0Indent20 23  2, 0Indent30 0 23  26 0Indent40 0 0 23  2@ 0Indent50 0 0 0 23  2J 0Indent60 0 0 0 0 23  2T 0Indent70 0 0 0 0 0 23  2^ 0Indent80 0 0 0 0 0 0 23   ?AGMSYaioIndent0I.A.1.a.(1)(a)i)a)P 8Mac DefaultMac Default ` X!"# &C<< CLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5(3$ !  ("$     d((' dxd<  9p`(ArialP Pd$$$$'dxd<  9p`(&Times New Roman% Line 7 d++++7Border 1dd!#,C << G  !  #d#'    H \RA'\#d#  ""  '   YYY FILED'XOctober1,1997CecilW.CrowsonAppellateCourtClerk   i !#d#'    H \RA'\#d#  $       SuccessortotheCountyCourtClerkasProbateClerk.PtPtHH(FG(HH(d'hStyl{WP}01  HH  2$HH  Geneva  <Px443!#4$*$$*$ KK  Geneva  Geneva .,6 Geneva   h HD: Geneva  h HD: Geneva ((3x$ ~!  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'    H \RA'\#Xd##Xd#  **ԛ RALPHMOORECRESWELL, )      ) WilliamsonCountyChancery Plaintiff/Appellee  ) No.13878      )VS.      ) AppealNo.      ) 01A019702CH00059̜!R-.,A1-j|P` . `@RߛBILLIECRESWELLDUFF,  )        ) Defendant/Appellant  )  INTHECOURTOFAPPEALSOFTENNESSEEMIDDLESECTIONATNASHVILLEAPPEALFROMTHEWILLIAMSONCOUNTYCHANCERYCOURTATFRANKLIN,TENNESSEEHONORABLEHENRYD.BELL,CHANCELLOR  KarlD.Warden2000FirstUnionTower150FourthAvenueNorthNashville,TN372192425ATTORNEYFORDEFENDANT/APPELLANTJamesL.Woodard408MainStreetP.O.Box708Franklin,TN37064ATTORNEYFORPLAINTIFF/APPELLEE̜ @ AFFIRMEDASMODIFIEDANDREMANDED̜       WILLIAMH.INMAN,SENIORJUDGECONCUR:HENRYF.TODD,PRESIDINGJUDGE,MIDDLESECTIONBENH.CANTRELL,JUDGE RALPHMOORECRESWELL, )      ) WilliamsonCountyChancery Plaintiff/Appellee   ) No.13878      )VS.      ) AppealNo.      ) 01A019702CH00059BILLIECRESWELLDUFF,  )      ) Defendant/Appellant  )    @ * OPINION*  ThiscomplaintwasfiledJuly17,1978,byaConservatorseekinganaccountingfromaTrusteeExecutrix. ThedefendantwasappointedguardianofRalphMooreCreswell[ Creswell]in1973andTrusteein1974bytheCountyCourtofWilliamsonCounty.HeraccountingtotheCountyCourtischallengedinthisaction.Thecaselanguishedforeighteen(18)yearsandwasfinallyheardonOctober10,1996.Creswellwasawarded$15,412.74andprejudgmentinterestfromJuly17,1978at10%perannum. ThecomplaintallegesthatCreswellwasmentallyretardedandunabletomanagehisaffairs,givingrisetotheappointmentofthefiduciary.Hisestateofabout$55,000.00wasinheritedfromhisfather,RoyCreswell,whoseestatewasadministeredbythedefendant. ThedefendantwasappointedguardianofRoyCreswellonDecember13,1973.HediedMarch1,1974.ShewasappointedExecutrixofhisestateandfiledanaccountingshowingexpendituresduringherguardianshipof$4,295.74,withthebalanceof$19,421.08beingpaidovertoherselfasExecutrix. OnAugust15,1974,theCountyCourtClerktookandstatedtheExecutrixaccount.Hechargedherwiththesumof$52,920.58,whichincludedtheguardianshipfunds,andcreditedherwithdisbursementsof$14,895.98,leaving$38,024.50tobeturnedovertothedefendantasTrusteeforRalphCreswell.Thisstatedaccountreflectsthatthedisbursementswereverifiedbycanceledchecks. OnNovember12,1975,aReportwasfiledintheCountyCourtbyT.H.Alexander,attorneyforthedefendant,allegingvariousdisbursements,includingonetohimselfintheamountof$2,500.00.ThisReportwasnotsignedbythedefendantandwasnotapprovedbytheCourt.Itis,forbothreasons,inefficacious. OnNovember18,1976,thedefendantfiledaReportwiththeCountyCourtshowing$12,301.92onhandand$7,660.00indisbursements,withabalanceof$4,641.50. OnJuly17,1978,thedefendant,asTrustee,filedherfinalaccountingwiththeClerkandMaster. /   ׀Thisaccountingrevealsdisbursementsof$11,106.76,whichwasdeliveredtoMarionHolder,successortrustee.Adifficultywiththispurportedfinalaccountingisthatitisunsigned,butitwasapparentlyacceptedforfilingbytheClerkandMaster. Tothecomplaintthedefendantfiledananswerdenyingallallegedimproprietiesandassertingthatalldisbursementsshemadeinafiduciarycapacitywerejustified. OnOctober2,1978,theChancellorappointedMelvinSpain,aC.P.A.,asSpecialMastertotakeandstatetheaccountsofthedefendantfiduciary. TheSpecialMaster,onNovember20,1980,filedastatementofaccountswhichwasnotrepresentedashavingbeenpreparedinaccordancewithacceptedaccountingprinciples.Becausethedefendantkeptmeagerrecords,andbecauseinthepassageoftimereceipts,vouchersandcanceledcheckswerelost,theSpecialMasterstruggledtosubmitaReportwhichwouldreflectevenamodicumofthefiduciarysreceiptsanddisbursements.ThestrugglecontinuedwiththeChancellor,whoconcludedthatarecoveryof$15,412.74shouldbeallowedbecausethedefendantfailedtopresentjustifyingvouchersfordisbursementswhichaggregatedthisamount. Thedefendantappealsandpresentsforreviewtheissuesthat: (1)8 Thetrialcourterredinnotapplyinglaches; (2)8 ThetrialcourtappliedinconsistentstandardstodeterminetheproprietyofpaymentstotheSpecialMastervisavistothedefendant,herattorneyandϜfamily; (3)8 Thetrialcourtshouldnothaveallowedprejudgmentinterest. @ ISSUENO.1 ̛ Withrespecttothedefenseoflaches,Rule8.03requiresthataffirmativedefenses,ofwhichlachesisone,mustbespeciallypleaded.Inlightofthefactthatthisdefensewasnotspeciallypleaded,weareunabletonoticeitfurther. @ ISSUENO.2  TheSpecialMastersubmittedhisstatementforservicestotheCourt,%  ԛϜwhichapprovedit,ascontrastedtothepaymentsmadebythedefendanttoherattorneyandherfamilymembers,noneofwhichwasapprovedbytheProbateClerkorbytheCountyJudge.Weseenoinconsistencyhere. @ ISSUENO.3 T.C.A.4714123authorizesprejudgmentinterest,nottoexceed10%perannum,inthenatureofdamagestobeawardedinaccordancewiththeprinciplesofequity.Theallowanceofsuchinterestisdiscretionary,B.F.Myers&Sonv.Evans,612S.W.2d912(Tenn.Ct.App.1980),andajudgmentallowingitwillnotbereversedabsentashowingofanabuseofdiscretion.Otisv.CambridgeMutualIns.Co.,850S.W.2d439(Tenn.Ct.App.1992).Theevidencerevealsthatthedefendantpaidoutvarioussumstoattorneysandtomembersofherfamilywithoutpriororsubsequentapprovalandpaidherselfanadvanceof$2,000.00onaprojectedfee.Suchpeccadilloesmaywellhavebeenpartlyattributedtoherlawyers,assheclaims,butobviouslythisreasonmaynotservetoexonerateher.Butweareconcernedwiththeinordinatelengthoftimethiscomplaintlanguishedinthetrialcourtbeforeitwasscheduledfortrial18years,andtheallowanceof180%interestontherecoveryjarsournotionofequity,asdoesthelackadaisicalattitudeofthedefendanttoherfiduciaryduties.Theevidencefairlyindicatesthatshepaidherselfandmembersofherfamily$8,930.00duringherfiduciarytenure,andwethinksheshouldpayinterestonthisamountattherateof6%perannumforthreeyears.Theonerationof10%for18yearsonthefullamountis,webelieve,anabuseofdiscretion. Thejudgmentismodifiedaccordingly,andasmodifiedisaffirmed.Costsareassessedtothepartiesevenly.      ________________________________      WilliamH.Inman,SeniorJudgeCONCUR:______________________________________HenryF.Todd,PresidingJudge,MiddleSection______________________________________BenH.Cantrell,Judge̛̜