Heineman v. Bright

782 A.2d 365, 140 Md. App. 658, 2001 Md. App. LEXIS 135
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland·Decided August 31, 2001·No. 602, Sept. Term, 2000·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

SALMON, Judge.

In PaineWebber Inc. v. East, 363 Md. 408, 768 A.2d 1029 (2001), the Court of Appeals affirmed this Court’s decision in East v. PaineWebber Inc., 131 Md.App. 302, 748 A.2d 1082 (2000). The two main questions raised in the case sub judice arise as a consequence of the East decision, viz:

1. Was the issue decided in East either raised or decided in the lower court and thus preserved for our review?
2. If the answer to Question 1 is “yes,” does application of the principles of law enunciated by the Court of Appeals in East require us to reverse the judgment in the case at hand?

We hold that the issue discussed in East was neither raised by appellant in the trial court nor decided by the trial judge. Thus, the issue was not appropriately preserved for appellate review. See Md. Rule 8-131(a). But even if the issue had been preserved, we would still have affirmed the decision of the trial judge when he granted summary judgment in favor of appellees, inasmuch as the East case is factually distinguishable from the case sub judice.

I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Appellant, Jacklyn Kay Heineman (“Kay”), is the widow of G. Wendel Heineman (“Wendel”), who died testate on July 11, 1992. In his will, Wendel bequeathed his entire estate to his four daughters, except for a beneficial interest in a trust given to his former wife, Doris Heineman (“Doris”), in compliance *662 with a judgment of absolute divorce and property settlement agreement.

On April 8, 1996, Kay filed an amended complaint in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County against the personal representatives of Wendel’s estate and Doris. Count I of the amended complaint asked the court to declare her (Kay’s) rights under the Heineman Company, Ltd. Defined Benefit Plan and Trust (“the Trust” or “the Plan”), which the amended complaint described as “an ongoing pension plan as described in Section 401 et. seq. of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.”

In the amended complaint, Kay alleged that she and Wendel were married on October 27, 1989, and that, prior to the marriage, she and Wendel entered into a pre-nuptial agreement. Some of the relevant provisions of the pre-nuptial agreement were described in Kay’s amended complaint as follows:

13. In paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 of the Pre Nuptial Agreement, Plaintiff and Decedent waived, released and relinquished all right, title, estate and interest, statutory or otherwise, in all property owned by the other party at the time of their marriage or acquired by either of them at any time after their marriage and in the estate of the other party upon his or her death. Specifically, paragraph 4 of the Pre Nuptial Agreement included the following waiver:
The parties hereby expressly waive any legal right either may have under any Federal or state law as a spouse to participate as a payee or beneficiary under any interest the other may have in any pension plan, profit sharing plan, or any other form of retirement or deferred income plan, including, but not limited to, the right either spouse may have to receive any benefit in the form of a lump sum death benefit, joint or survivor annuity or preretirement survivor annuity pursuant to any state or Federal law.
14. It is the Plaintiff’s contention that the language and substance of the aforementioned Prenuptial Agreement is *663 insufficient as a matter of law to waive Plaintiffs rights and/or interests as the sole beneficiary of the Plan due to the fact that it fails to satisfy the statutory spousal right waiver requirements set forth in Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 417(a).
15. That Article VII (Death Benefits), Section 7.01 of the Plan documents defines “beneficiary” in pertinent part:
“Beneficiary shall mean any person or legal entity duly and properly designated by a participant to receive any benefits which may be payable under this Plan and Trust upon or after death; and, if there should be not such designation, or the designated beneficiary should predecease the participant, it shall mean the participant’s spouse, if married, or if not married, to his children equally. If the participant has no surviving spouse or children, then, the designated beneficiary shall be his estate.” (emphasis supplied)
16. That prior to his death on July 11, 1992, Decedent failed to designate any person or entity as the beneficiary of the Plan. Consequently, under the express provisions of the Plan stated above, it is Plaintiffs contention that Plaintiff became the sole beneficiary at the time of Decedent’s death.

(Emphasis added.)

In her prayer for relief, Kay asked the court to “find and declare that notwithstanding the terms of the Pre Nuptial Agreement, Plaintiff is the beneficiary of the benefits due the Decedent, G. Wendel Heineman, under the terms of the ... Trust.”

Kay’s allegations against Doris in the amended complaint were that Doris was guilty of a breach of trust (Count II) and a breach of fiduciary duty (Count III) because Doris failed to transfer to Kay “all Trust assets ... due [Kay] under the Trust” (Count III).

The case was transferred to Baltimore City because of venue problems. Thereafter, Kay moved for summary judgment against the defendants. The defendants filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, along with an opposition to *664 Kay’s motion. Defendants argued: (1) Kay’s claims were barred by issue preclusion and claims preclusion (due to a decision filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in a related action concerning Kay’s rights to certain property owned by the Trust); (2) the Trust was not subject to Section 401 et seq. of the Internal Revenue Code because it was not a “qualified plan”; and (3) the Internal Revenue Code is a tax statute and did not grant any substantive rights to Kay as a beneficiary of the Trust. The circuit court entered summary judgment in favor of the defendants and denied Kay’s motion for summary judgment. A panel of this Court reversed the circuit court and held that Kay’s action was not barred by principles of either issue preclusion or claims preclusion. See Heineman v. Bright, No. 1533, Sept. Term, 1997 (unreported, filed April 19, 1999). In reaching that result the panel did not address the merits of the defendants’ argument concerning Section 401 et seq. of the Internal Revenue Code.

Once the case was remanded, both sides filed cross motions for summary judgment.

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Heineman v. Bright, 782 A.2d 365, 140 Md. App. 658, 2001 Md. App. LEXIS 135 (Md. Ct. App. 2001).

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