A west Arkansas banking family finds itself at odds and in court after Susan Wilkinson’s death on Jan. 16.
Wilkinson, a longtime director and shareholder of Farmers Bank in Greenwood, was 64. Her only child, Elizabeth Fiser Williams of Cave City, went to court in April seeking to void her mother’s estate plan.
She alleges that her uncle, bank President J. Edward Wilkinson and his adult son unduly influenced the estate plan. Williams, 34, also suggests that “strong evidence” suggests that her mother was incapacitated.
Susan Wilkinson signed the estate documents on Sept. 26, 2022. Williams’ court filings assert that her mother suffered from “substantial physical and mental health problems.” She says the plans do not reflect her mother’s wishes, and wants the court to throw them out.
The disputed estate plan put Susan Wilkinson’s shares of Farmers Bank, 18.9% of its ownership, into a trust for Williams’ two minor children. The remainder of Susan Wilkinson’s assets went into another trust for Williams, according to the lawsuit, which was filed April 25 in Pulaski County Circuit Court.
The trust documents barred Williams from being trustee. Instead, the trustee of both trusts is Ed Wilkinson’s son, William Daniel Wilkinson of Overland Park, Kansas, an attorney. The trustee has the right to vote the bank stock that Susan Wilkinson left in trust.
His voting right as trustee gives his family majority control over Wilkinson Banking Corp., the holding company that owns Farmers Bank, the suit says. The family can also purchase the stock left in trust at a discounted amount, it says.
Ed Wilkinson owns 25.45% of the bank, according to Federal Reserve System filings.
Ed Wilkinson and his son “essentially gain complete practical control over the trusts for Elizabeth and her children for no legitimate reason, and Elizabeth is forced to forever resort to begging her uncle and cousin-trustee for funds for her children and herself,” the lawsuit says.
But the Wilkinsons said in court filings that the estate planning protections that Susan Wilkinson put in place “were designed by Susan to help ensure Elizabeth and her children were taken care of for life and that Elizabeth would not squander her mother’s wealth.”
The Wilkinsons also deny that they get to buy the bank stock at a bargain rate. They said the trust only provided that Daniel Wilkinson and his father would be able to buy the stock if Susan Wilkinson died with no living grandchildren. But she had grandchildren, their “contingent ability to buy bank stock is extinguished,” their filing said.
Farmers Bank of Greenwood by the Numbers (As of Dec. 31)
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Assets |
$219,322,000 | $243,523,000 | $266,414,000 | $273,519,000 | $276,463,000 |
Net Income |
$1,320,000 | $2,284,000 | $2,480,000 | $2,623,000 | $2,406,000 |
Tier I Capital |
$38,731,000 | $39,597,000 | $40,777,000 | $41,900,000 | $42,956,000 |
Employees |
64 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
(Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.)
A statement to Arkansas Business from the Wilkinsons’ attorney, Betsy Baker of the Rose Law Firm of Little Rock, said that the dispute is a family matter that has regrettably gone public. “Susan’s death represents an extraordinary loss to the entire family,” the statement said. “We mourn Susan’s passing; and our only goal is to see that her last wishes in her last will and testament and trust are honored, including her indicated desire to protect and provide for her beloved grandchildren.”
Ed Wilkinson and his son filed a counterclaim against Williams, asking Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Chip Welch to rule that Williams violated the no-contest clauses in her mother’s trust. The Wilkinsons said the penalty for contesting the trust means Williams is no longer a beneficiary.
Williams’ attorney, Matthew House of James House Swann & Downing of Little Rock, said in an email to Arkansas Business that Williams is “a very nice, private person,” but declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Gerry W. Beyer, a professor at Texas Tech University School of Law, said the estate case fits a common theme. One issue is whether the mother was competent when she created the estate planning documents, which involves looking at both medical and lay evidence, he said.
“People are presumed to have capacity unless they’ve been adjudicated incompetent,” Beyer said.
Proving undue influence, he said, could be difficult. A plaintiff would have to show the person wouldn’t have the ability to resist, and the person is “broken down so much” as to lack the ability to say no, a tough task when you are still a beneficiary.
“Remember, undue influence is a lot different than [simple] influence,” Beyer said.
100-Plus Years of History
The Wilkinson family’s part in Farmers Bank dates back to its 1907 inception, when W.N. Wilkinson started as the bank’s first cashier.
Over the years, the Wilkinsons acquired a controlling interest and today owns all of the bank’s holding company, Wilkinson Banking Corp.
W.N. Wilkinson held nearly every position in the bank, from cashier to chairman, as did his son, Means Wilkinson, who died in 1991.
Means’ son, Ed Wilkinson, followed his forebears and is the bank’s president; his brother, Stanhope Wilkinson, is its CEO; and their mother, Elizabeth Wilkinson, is chair. Ed Wilkinson’s sister, Susan, was a director at her death.
Her obituary said that she had been a director of the bank for 35 years. As a member of the board, “she was an integral part of the bank’s unprecedented growth and success,” the obituary said.
The bank has 10 locations and had 64 employees as of Dec. 31. For 2023, it reported a net income of $2.4 million.
‘A Strong Relationship’
Susan Wilkinson and Williams “had a strong, resilient, mother-and-daughter relationship,” the suit says.
While they had disagreements, any claims about Williams being a “bad” daughter or about them having a falling-out are not correct, according to Williams’ lawsuit.
Susan’s brother and nephew paint a different picture, alleging that the mother and daughter had a difficult relationship. Williams had “a history of financial instability, as evidenced by Elizabeth’s consistent requests for financial aid from her mother,” according to the Wilkinsons’ filing.
But Williams said in her suit that at the time of her mother’s death she had begun building a guest house at her home in Cave City so they could spend more time together.
Williams also said that her mother had “a long, protracted illness which caused her substantial physical and mental health problems” for months and years before her death.
Because she was ill, Susan Wilkinson couldn’t “competently understand or make decisions regarding the execution of the Trust and Will,” Williams’ filing said.
Williams also is challenging the will in the Probate Division of Pulaski County Circuit Court. That case is pending.
Williams said in her filing challenging the estate documents that her mother had mental health struggles and would complain “about anxiety, severe sadness, panic attacks, and being ‘out of my mind with stress the past few years.’”
Shareholders of Wilkinson Banking Corp., Farmers Bank’s Holding Company (As of Dec. 31, 2021)
Name and City |
Title and Position at Farmers Bank |
Number of Shares |
% of Ownership |
| Elizabeth Wilkinson, Greenwood | Director and chairman | 0 | 0 |
| Edward Wilkinson, Greenwood | Director and president | 1,643.16 | 25.45 |
| Stanhope Wilkinson, Greenwood | Director and CEO | 1,441.50 | 22.32 |
| Susan Wilkinson,* Little Rock | Director | 1,217.67 | 18.86 |
| Norman Wilkinson, Fort Smith | Director, in-house counsel | 1,177.67 | 18.24 |
*Died Jan. 16, 2024
The Federal Reserve requires the securities holders to be listed if they own 5% or more shares of the bank holding company.
Source: FR Y-6 filing with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Williams said that her uncle “became increasingly more influential in and controlling over Susan’s financial and other affairs,” in the period before Sept. 26, 2022, when she signed the estate papers.
In a July 2022 text message exchange between Williams’ mother and Ed Wilkinson, he said that he called Daniel Wilkinson, and that his son’s law firm could handle the will and guardianship papers, according to Williams’ filing.
“Susan responded ‘Taking a nap[,]’ to which Ed replied ‘Excellent. All moving forward now,’” the suit says. “Clearly Ed was taking control of the situation, actively directing her estate planning.”
Williams said that in “multiple instances” her mother’s text messages show she didn’t clearly understand the trust or who was to receive what. Provisions she wanted in the will were also omitted, the lawsuit says.
The Wilkinsons said in their filing that Judge Welch should uphold Susan Wilkinson’s wishes and keep the documents as they are.
“Susan thought highly of Ed and asked him to help her find counsel to set up estate planning. Ed did so,” the filing said.
“Plaintiff’s nefarious theory of his involvement is a red herring to support her attempt to steal her children’s inheritance and overturn her own mother’s stated wishes,” the filing said. n
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