Aetna Life Ins. v. Hussey

8 Ohio App. Unrep. 607
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 7, 1990
DocketCase No. 89-L-14-084
StatusPublished

This text of 8 Ohio App. Unrep. 607 (Aetna Life Ins. v. Hussey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aetna Life Ins. v. Hussey, 8 Ohio App. Unrep. 607 (Ohio Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

DONOFRIO, J.

This is an appeal from the Court of Common Pleas of Lake County, Ohio, by appellants, Kelly Rae Hussey and Lillian Mae Hussey, from the judgment of the trial court, wherein the court granted summary judgment for the appellees, Phillip A. Lawrence, trustee, and Marcia S. Hussey, Executrix of the Estate of Raymond W. Hussey, Jr.

The underlying action was an interpleader action brought by plaintiffs, Aetna Life Insurance Co. and The Lubrizol Corporation, against the appellants and appellees concerning the distribution of the proceeds of the life insurance policy of Raymond W. Hussey, Jr.

Raymond W. Hussey, Jr. and Lillian M. Hussey were divorced on June 13, 1975. One daughter, Kelly Rae Hussey, was born of the marriage. Kelly Rae was six years old at the time of the divorce. The divorce decree incorporated a separation agreement,, which contained the following provision:

"13. Husband shall maintain the present insurance policies on his life and make his daughter, Kelly Rae Hussey, the irrevocable (sic) beneficiary of said policies until she attains the age of twenty-two (22) years for the purpose of insuring her education. Husband shall provide Wife with proof that the premiums on said policies are continuously paid and also proof that said child has been made the irrevocable beneficiary of said policies."

Pursuant to the agreement, on June 16, 1975, Raymond Hussey named his daughter, Kelly Rae, as the beneficiary of the life insurance policy he had through his employer, Lubrizol Corporation, issued by the Aetna Life Insurance Company.

Raymond remarried and, subsequently, he changed the beneficiary on the insurance policy twice. In January 1976, he designated his new wife, Marcia Hussey, as the primary beneficiary and his daughter, Kelly Rae, as the contingent beneficiary. Later in 1981, Raymond again changed the beneficiary to his attorney by the following designation, "Trustee Phillip A. Lawrence, Attorney at Law, Trust of Raymond Hussey." No other trust documents were executed.

Raymond Hussey died in October 1987, at which time the insurance policy had a value of $178,552. Kelly Rae made a claim for the insurance benefits against Lubrizol, Aetna Life, and her father's estate. On behalf of the estate, appellee, Phillip Lawrence, rejected [608]*608Kelly's claim, stating that the estate had no insurance proceeds or policies. However, appellee Lawrence indicated that there was a policy outside of the estate; distributed to him as a trustee, from which appellee, Marcia Hussey, would pay Kelly's tuition and educational expenses as provided in the divorce decree.

Subsequently, on March 21, 1988, the plaintiffs, Aetna Life and Lubrizol, filed a complaint for interpleader against the defendants concerning the disposition of the life insurance proceeds. After all the pleadings were filed by the parties, plaintiff, Lubrizol Corporation, was dismissed from the action.

Thereafter, the appellants and appellees both filed their respective motions for summary judgment regarding the interpretation of the insurance policy provision in the divorce decree. On May 9, 1989, the trial court found that appellant, Kelly Rae Hussey, was entitled to the benefit of the insurance proceeds for her education until she reaches the age of twenty-two. The court stated that any funds left over after Kelly Rae is either educated or reaches the age of twenty-two would be deposited with the decedent's trustee, appellee Lawrence, for distribution according to the trust. The trial court ordered plaintiff, Aetna Life, to deposit the entire insurance proceeds with the Lake County Probate Court which would appoint a trustee to administer the funds in accordance with law and the 1975 divorce decree.

Appellants have filed a timely notice of appeal and now present the following assignments of error:

"1. The lower court erred when it ignored the clear precedent of the Ohio Supreme Court's decision in Kelly v. Medical Life Insurance Co., (1987), 31 Ohio St. 3d 130.

"2. The lower court erred in giving any legal effect to decedent's attempted change of beneficiary when a divorce decree and separation agreement required decedent to maintain his daughter as irrevocable beneficiary of his life insurance policy.

"3. The lower court erred when it attempted to establish a trust where no trust exists, since no trust agreement was executed and since the settlor (sic) of the purported trust had no interest in the property comprising the corpus of the trust.

"4. The lower court erred when it rewrote the parties' agreement and divorce decree by awarding only a portion of the insurance proceeds to appellate (sic), and limited the use of the funds for education until age twenty-two (22), thereby ignoring the express terms of a divorce decree and separation agreement requiring decedent to maintain his daughter as irrevocable beneficiary."

The issue before us is the appropriateness of the trial court's judgment in apportioning the proceeds of decedent's life insurance, as opposed to the decedent's daughter Kelly’s, the appellant herein, contention that she is entitled to the entire amount of her father's insurance proceeds since she obtained a vested interest in the policy as of the issuance of the divorce decree. We hold that the appellants' arguments are well taken for the following reasons.

In support of the appellants' assignment of error is the Ohio Supreme Court case of Kelly v. Medical Life Ins. Co. (1987), 31 Ohio St. 3d 130. In Kelly, the children brought an action to recover proceeds of their father's life insurance policy. Pursuant to a divorce decree, the father was required to '"name the minor children as beneficiaries on all life insurance he has through his place of employment and Veterans Administration so long as his support obligation exists.'" Id. At the time of the father's death, the named beneficiary was the father's brother.

In Kelly, the trial court ordered all proceeds to be paid to the children's legal guardian. The court of appeals affirmed in part, but reversed '"insofar as [the trial] court found the constructive trust to extend to the entire amount of the insurance proceeds ***. Id. at 131. Examining the separation agreement and the circumstances surrounding the agreement, the appellate court concluded that the father intended to name the children as beneficiaries merely as a security from the payment of child support and, thus, the court concluded that the children were only entitled to the amount of insurance proceeds which would be necessary to satisfy the father's support obligation.

The Ohio Supreme Court did not agree. The Supreme Court found that the children were entitled to a constructive trust on the entire amount of the proceeds. In Kelly, the court held, at page 132, that:

"The purpose of contract construction is to effectuate the intent of the parties. Skivolocki v. East Ohio Gas Co. (1974), 38 [609]*609Ohio St. 2d 244, 67 O.O. 2d 321, 313 N.E. 2d 374, paragraph one of the syllabus. The intent of the parties to a contract is presumed to reside in the language they chose to employ in the agreement. Id.; Blosser v. Enderlin (1925), 113 Ohio St. 121, 148 N.E. 393, paragraph one of the syllabus.

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Related

Bank One Trust Co., N.A. v. Transamerica Life Insurance
451 N.E.2d 542 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1982)
Studley v. Studley
513 N.E.2d 811 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1986)
Blosser v. Enderlin
148 N.E. 393 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1925)
Campbell v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America
137 N.E.2d 515 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 1955)
Skivolocki v. East Ohio Gas Co.
313 N.E.2d 374 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1974)
Kelly v. Medical Life Insurance
509 N.E.2d 411 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
8 Ohio App. Unrep. 607, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aetna-life-ins-v-hussey-ohioctapp-1990.