Harmon v. Harmon

962 F. Supp. 2d 873, 2013 WL 3980458, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111667
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedAugust 2, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 3:12-CV-00153
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 962 F. Supp. 2d 873 (Harmon v. Harmon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harmon v. Harmon, 962 F. Supp. 2d 873, 2013 WL 3980458, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111667 (S.D. Tex. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

GREGG COSTA, District Judge.

This case arises from the payment of the late William Harmon’s life insurance proceeds to his daughter, Defendant Legh Ann Harmon. The deceased’s widow, Plaintiff Patricia Harmon, claims that Legh Ann and her boyfriend, Defendant Xavier Lee, deceived William into changing the primary beneficiary of the life insurance policy from Patricia to Legh Ann while William was incompetent to make such a decision. Patricia also claims that Defendant Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the issuer of the policy, violated various ERISA provisions by distributing the proceeds to Legh Ann without the original paperwork showing the beneficiary change and with knowledge that William was incapacitated when the change was made. Defendants have moved for summary judgment. Having reviewed the parties’ briefs, the facts, and the applicable case law, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ motions.

I. Background

This lawsuit centers around two life insurance policies that William Harmon obtained while employed by Bayer Corporation. William participated in Bayer’s employee benefit program, through which he funded and owned a $125,000 basic life insurance policy and a $125,000 optional supplemental life insurance policy. A beneficiary designation form shows that on April 19, 2000, William designated his wife, Patricia Harmon, as the primary beneficiary of the policies, and his daughter, Legh Ann Harmon, as the secondary beneficiary. Docket Entry No. 33-11 at 2.

William’s health appears to have started deteriorating in 2000 because of “severe pancreatitis with pseudocyst.” Docket Entry No. 48-1 at 7. William grew physically weak and, in September 2001, began seeing a psychiatrist after suffering from “depression, anxiety, nightmares, and flashbacks.” Id. The Social Security Agency deemed him disabled in August 2002 due to “organic mental disorders and essential hypertension” and he seems to have quit his job around that time. Docket Entry Nos. 48-3 at 8; 13 at 4. A March 2003 report from the psychiatrist to a disability claims examiner notes that William’s condition had “been generally downhill,” showing signs of ongoing deterioration of his cognitive abilities, vascular dementia, and difficulties with short-term memory. Docket Entry No. 48-1 at 7.

[877]*877On November 22, 2004, Legh Ann was named the primary beneficiary of the insurance policies, but exactly how that happened is unclear. The evidence of the beneficiary change is limited and primarily contained in electronic records of Hewitt Associates — the administrative services provider and record keeper for the insurance plan until 2010. Those records include a computer screenshot documenting that the beneficiary change took place on that date. Docket Entry No. 38-7 at 71-73. The records also include a spreadsheet of Health Insurance Portability and Account Act (HIPAA) Notices, which has a November 22, 2004 entry for “Confirm PIN Reset” — presumably a notice confirming a change in William’s personal identification number — and a November 23, 2004 entry for “HW Bene Confirm” — presumably a notice confirming the change in beneficiary. Id. at 74.1

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Figure 1. Screenshots showing November 22, 2004 beneficiary change. Docket Entry No. 38-7 at 73-74.

In the following years, William’s health continued to deteriorate. After enduring a major stroke in 2008, he died on June 21, 2010 at the age of sixty-three. He was survived by Patricia and Legh Ann, as well as three of Patricia’s children from a prior marriage whom he adopted when he married Patricia.

On June 28, 2010, the Bayer Benefits Center sent Legh Ann a letter advising her that she was the designated beneficiary of the insurance proceeds and enclosing a claim form. Docket Entry No. 40 at 49. On June 30, 2010, the Bayer Benefits Center faxed its Employer’s Statement to MetLife, informing MetLife of William’s death, details of his coverage, and that Legh Ann was the designated beneficiary. Docket Entry Nos. 40 at 46-50; 41 at 1-5. Legh Ann submitted her claim form and the death certificate to MetLife on July 8, 2010. Docket Entry No. 41 at 16-21.

Patricia alleges that the first time she learned of the beneficiary change was after William’s death, when the funeral home advised her that the life insurance policy she provided them to cover the expenses had already been paid to Legh Ann. Phone logs show that Patricia called MetLife on July 6, 2010 to inquire about the beneficiary change and ask if she could change the named beneficiary, but the representative advised her that such action was not possible. Docket Entry No. 48-3 at 12. She called again two days later, stating that her daughter wanted to give up her rights and the proceeds, but the Benefits Center once again refused and informed her that it had to pay the most current beneficiary listed on file. Id. at 13. Though not [878]*878documented in the phone logs, Patricia alleges that she told the representative that William did not have the mental capacity to change the beneficiary and that the change must have been a mistake. Compare id., with Docket Entry No. 48 at 4. She also states that the representative told her the beneficiary change was made online, but that too is not documented in the phone logs. Id. The parties also dispute whether, in a subsequent phone call on July 13, 2010, Patricia stated that she would not file a competing claim. Patricia is adamant that she “consistently asserted her claim,” Docket Entry No. 48 at 5, but the phone record states: “Isn’t going to file a elm .... let Exmnr know not going to file elm, can proceed.” Docket Entry No. 48-3 at 15. MetLife paid the insurance proceeds to Legh Ann on July 15, 2010. Docket Entry No. 43 at 37.

Shortly thereafter, Patricia retained counsel in connection with her alleged interest in the life insurance proceeds. On July 23, 2010, her counsel wrote MetLife asserting claims on three bases: (1) the change of beneficiary was the result of Legh Ann’s undue influence; (2) the decedent lacked the mental capacity to understand the effect of his conduct at the time of the beneficiary change; and (3) the life insurance premiums were paid with community property entitling Patricia to a 50% interest. Docket Entry No. 48^4 at 1. MetLife responded on August 12, 2010, denying the claim. Id. at 4. It reasoned that Patricia had advised on July 13 that she would not be filing a claim, and therefore it processed payment in good faith pursuant to the most recent beneficiary designation on file. Id. MetLife also informed Patricia’s counsel that, under ERISA, he had sixty days to file a written appeal, which should include “the reason(s) you believe the claim was improperly denied, and [ ] any additional comments, documents, records or other [information].” Id. at 4-5.

Patricia hired new counsel who filed a formal appeal with MetLife on October 15, 2010. Docket Entry No. 42 at 8-9. The appeal letter argued that the payment was based on “insufficient and erroneous documentation provided by Bayer” and complained that no evidence was provided to Patricia regarding the beneficiary change. Id. at 8. It also urged that Patricia had “a good faith belief that there was an error made in the payment of the [ ] claim” and “a good faith belief that the designated beneficiary was changed by means of fraud,” but attached no evidence in support of those beliefs. Id. at 9.

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Bluebook (online)
962 F. Supp. 2d 873, 2013 WL 3980458, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111667, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harmon-v-harmon-txsd-2013.