LARY L. BLANKINSHIP,
JUSTIN L. BLANKINSHIP, a minor,
BARBARA RICHARDSON a/k/a
by and thru Mother and Natural Guardian,
                                Plaintiffs,

vs.                Case No. 01C 724

BURLINGTON NORTHERN
AND SANTA FE RAILWAY CO.,
STATE OF KANSAS
DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION,
E. DEAN CARLSON SEC. OF TRANSPORTATION,
                                Defendants.

On March 25, 2002, this court approved the settlement in the above referenced case between the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company and Justin Blankinship, a minor by and through his mother and natural guardian, Barbara Richardson . At the time of the settlement hearing the plaintiff through his mother requested the funds awarded to him be paid as follows: $11,500.00 to Barbara Richardson as custodian for Justin Blankinship under the Kansas Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (K.S.A. 38-1701 et seq.) and $11,500.00 to Lary Lee Blankinship as custodian for Justin Blankinship under the Kansas Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. Defendant objected to the transfer and argued that this amount of an award to a minor required that the payment be made to a conservatorship with the minor as the conservatee. The court took the matter under advisement.

After reviewing the issue and researching the statutes involved, this court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

1. Pursuant to K.S.A. 38-1711, only one person may be the custodian under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. If a transfer was made under that act, the entire award of $23,000.00 would have to be made to a single custodian.

2. K.S.A. 38-1704 provides for a nomination of a custodian by a person having the right to designate the recipient of property transferable upon the occurrence of a future event. The nomination may be made in a will, a trust, a deed, an instrument exercising a power of appointment, or in a writing designating a beneficiary of contractual rights which is registered with or delivered to the payor, issues, or other obligor of the contractual right. This court does not find that such a nomination under K.S.A. 38-1704 has been made.

3. Pursuant to K.S.A. 38-1708, if no custodian has been nominated under K.S.A. 38-1704, a transfer may be made to an adult member of the minor's family or a trust company unless the property exceeds $10,000.00 in value.

4. The award to be transferred to Justin Blankinship, a minor, exceeds $10,000.00.

5. K.S.A. 59-3003 provides that the natural guardian of a minor has the right and duty to manage, mortgage, etc. the personal estate of a minor when the estate does not exceed $5,000.00 in value.

6. Furthermore, K.S.A. 59-3015 provides that any court having control over or custody of any amount of money not exceeding $5,000.00 shall have the discretion to authorize, without the appointment of a conservator or the giving of a bond, that the money be paid to the natural parent(s) (or others) to manage, invest, etc. for the benefit of the minor.

7. In this case, the award amount exceeds $5,000.00 which certainly makes the exemption from a conservatorship under K.S.A. 59-3015 inapplicable. Likewise, the award amount in this case exceeds the $10,000.00 limitation under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act when a nomination of a custodian has not been made.

8. Even if there is some way to construe the language of K.S.A. 38-1701 et seq. and K.S.A. 59-3015 to allow the transfer of this $23,000.00 award to a custodian pursuant to the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, this court does not find that such a transfer is in the best interest of Justin. The purpose of a conservatorship for a minor is to protect the estate of the minor through court review and supervision. K.S.A. 59-3015 provides an exception from court supervision if the amount of the money is $5,000.00 or less but any greater amount of money triggers the requirement of a conservatorship.

9. Therefore, this court orders that a conservatorship be established for the benefit of Justin Blankinship. Certainly, such a conservatorship should be filed in the county of residence of the person petitioning for the establishment of the conservatorship.

Upon the establishment of the conservatorship, the moneys held by the clerk of the Shawnee County District Court will be paid over to the conservatorship created for the benefit of Justin Blankinship, a minor.

The above constitutes this court's ruling regarding the issue taken under advisement and no further journal entry needs to be entered.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated this day of April, 2002.

 
___________________
Nancy Parrish
District Judge, Third Judicial District
Division Fourteen

I hereby certify that a copy of the above and foregoing MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER was mailed this 3rd day of April , 2002, to the following:

 
Robert L. Pottroff
320 Sunset Avenue
P.O. Box 489
Manhattan, Kansas 66502

 
William P. Coates, Jr.
10740 Nall, Suite 200
Overland Park, Kansas 66211

 
Vicky S. Johnson
Kansas Dept. Of Transportation
Docking State Office Bldg. 779S
Topeka, Kansas 66612

 
________________________
Norma J. Dunnaway
Administrative Assistant