Harris v. Byard

501 So. 2d 730, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 429, 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 6571
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJanuary 30, 1987
DocketNo. BI-57
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 501 So. 2d 730 (Harris v. Byard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harris v. Byard, 501 So. 2d 730, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 429, 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 6571 (Fla. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

ZEHMER, Judge.

This is an appeal from an order entitled “Final Judgment” entered in the administration of the estate of Walter Byard, deceased. Byard’s designated beneficiary of his group life insurance predeceased him, and no contingent beneficiary was named. The order determined that two of Byard’s children, Belden Byard and Benita Byard, should be treated as sole beneficiaries of the life insurance policy, to the exclusion of the claims of Byard’s estate and his remaining children who are beneficiaries of the estate. We conclude that the court misapplied the cited rule of law, and reverse.

The proceedings in the trial court were not reported; therefore, counsel for the parties filed an agreed statement of facts in this court, which reveals the following events.

This dispute arises out of conflicting claims against the $12,000 proceeds of a employer’s group life insurance policy covering Byard as an employee at the time of his death. The policy named his mother as beneficiary, but she had died before the decedent died accidentally on September 14, 1984. On November 2, 1984, appellant, Juno A. Harris, as Byard’s sister, filed a petition for administration, alleging that she was guarantor of decedent’s funeral expenses. She was appointed personal representative of the estate and letters of administration were issued.

Walter Byard and appellee, Gloria J. Byard, were once legally married, and Bel-den Byard (age 16) and Benita Byard (age 14) were the only children born of their marriage. Walter Byard fathered and was paying child support to five other minor children who were heirs of his estate at his death.

Gloria Byard, as natural guardian of Bel-den Byard and Benita Byard, filed her petition to determine Belden and Benita the sole beneficiaries of the insurance policy and served copies on the attorney for the personal representative and on each of the other children as heirs of the decedent. The petition alleged that Belden and Benita Byard were the only legitimate heirs of the decedent born as issue of his marriage to her, and that the marriage was dissolved by an order entered August 30, 1976, by the circuit court of Duval County, which stated, “The Husband shall maintain a major medical and life insurance policy covering the minor children as beneficiaries.” Based on this provision, appellee contended [732]*732that Belden and Benita Byard were the only lawful heirs of decedent entitled to the benefits of the life insurance policy.

Appellant filed a response alleging that Walter Byard had been determined to be the natural father of minor heirs Sandralyn Brown, Gerry Brown, Walter C. McRae, Kevin McRae, and Walter J. Byard in final judgments of paternity entered by the Du-val County circuit court and required to pay child support for their benefit, which he was doing at the time of his death. The response further alleged that pursuant to section 732.108(2), Florida Statutes (1985), all the minor heirs were lineal descendants of Walter Byard and entitled to share equally in the assets of the estate available for distribution after payment of claims to creditors and costs of administration.

The minor heirs did not file a response to the petition; however, they appeared at the hearing through their natural mothers. Accordingly, the court had jurisdiction over them pursuant to section 731.301, Florida Statutes (1985).

After the parties presented evidence and argument on the issues at a hearing, the trial court, reasoning that the named beneficiary had “predeceased Walter Byard so in effect there is no beneficiary named in that policy” and that “the issues in this case appear to be controlled by the law as set forth in the case of Dixon v. Dixon [184 So.2d 478 (Fla. 2d DCA 1966), cert. discharged, 194 So.2d 897 (Fla.1967)] and Roxy v. Roxy [454 So.2d 84 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984)],” entered final judgment determining Belden Byard and Benita Byard to be the sole beneficiaries of the life insurance policy and entitled to receive all benefits of that policy. Appellant’s motion for rehearing was denied and this appeal followed.

We note that the record before the trial court failed to identify any particular insurance policy in effect at the time of the judgment of dissolution. There was no basis, therefore, for the court to determine what insurance policy or amount of insurance was contemplated by the provision in that judgment. Moreover, that judgment does not require that compliance with this provision be accomplished by obtaining a particular policy naming only the two children as beneficiaries. That including the two named children as beneficiaries in a single policy with other beneficiaries would comply with the provision is strongly indicated by the reference to life insurance and medical insurance in the same sentence, for medical insurance is characteristically obtained by a single policy or certificate covering the insured and his dependents. We are unwilling, therefore, to construe the provision as requiring Byard to thereafter make the two children of that marriage the sole beneficiaries of any and all after-acquired life insurance, regardless of amount, to the complete exclusion of his other children, or other family members, as this would amount to ruling that the judgment of dissolution effectively circumscribed his future right to obtain life insurance for any other beneficiary. Finally, there is no evidence or indication that the group life insurance coverage in dispute was acquired by Byard to comply with the terms of the order or that his other children could not be named as beneficiaries and still comply with the provision in the judgment.

Were this a contract action to enforce Byard’s agreement to provide life insurance for the two children pursuant to a writing containing the language of the judgment, we would be hard pressed to effectuate such an agreement because the essential terms of the contract would obviously be too vague. See, e.g., Truly Nolen, Inc. v. Atlas Moving & Storage Warehouses, Inc., 125 So.2d 903 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961), cert. discharged, 137 So.2d 568 (Fla.1962). This argument, however, has not been presented to us.

The decisions relied on by the trial court as controlling, Dixon v. Dixon, 184 So.2d 478, and Roxy v. Roxy, 454 So.2d 84, and other decisions following Dixon cited to us, Holmes v. Holmes, 463 So.2d 578 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Vath v. Vath, 432 So.2d 806 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); Pensyl v. Moore, 415 So.2d 771 (Fla. 3d DCA), pet. for rev. denied, 424 So.2d 762 (Fla.1982), are distin[733]*733guishable from this case for the reason that in each case the record established that the particular insurance policies contemplated by the parties’ stipulation or settlement agreement incorporated in the dissolution judgment was in existence at the time of the judgement and identified in the record.

For example, in Dixon the husband was covered at the time of the divorce by his employer’s group policy with Metropolitan Life. Thereafter, a group policy with Provident Life, covering the husband for $8,000, was substituted for the Metropolitan coverage. The court held that the substituted policy was just as subject as the original policy to that provision of the divorce decree stipulating that the husband would “ ‘maintain and keep current with his employment any and all policies on his life, which such policies shall be made payable to the minor child herein.’ ” 184 So.2d at 479.

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Bluebook (online)
501 So. 2d 730, 12 Fla. L. Weekly 429, 1987 Fla. App. LEXIS 6571, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-v-byard-fladistctapp-1987.