MacMurray v. United States

15 Cl. Ct. 323, 1988 U.S. Claims LEXIS 132, 1988 WL 84042
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedAugust 11, 1988
DocketNo. 217-86C
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 15 Cl. Ct. 323 (MacMurray v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
MacMurray v. United States, 15 Cl. Ct. 323, 1988 U.S. Claims LEXIS 132, 1988 WL 84042 (cc 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

REGINALD W. GIBSON, Judge:

Introduction

Plaintiff, John C. MacMurray, in this military benefits pay case, initially brought suit, in 1984, in the Chancery Court of the [324]*324Second Judicial District of Harrison County, Mississippi. There he sought a declaration that his missing sister, Marguerite M. Mayden, was still living. Said suit was initiated after the monthly payments that his sister had been receiving, as a result of her husband’s death, from both the Air Force, under the Survivor Benefit Plan annuity program (SBP) ($757.80), and the Department of Health and Human Services ($237.00), had been suspended because of her disappearance. Initially, Mr. MacMur-ray had endeavored to challenge these payment suspensions administratively. But after no action was taken by either agency, he turned to the courts.

The United States, defendant herein, later by motion removed the state court action to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in October, 1984. After removal, plaintiff amended his complaint to pursue receipt of the suspended payment amounts from both agencies. The District Court, as a consequence, found that under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a)(2), the amounts involved in Mr. MacMurray’s original claim, being over $10,000, was beyond its statutory jurisdiction.1 Therefore, that court transferred the case to the Claims Court on April 1, 1986.

In this court, plaintiff MacMurray, as the duly appointed conservator of the estate of the missing Ms. Mayden, first requested a finding of entitlement to both back and future payments from both the Air Force and the Department of Health and Human Services. However, in the interim, and before any issues could be resolved, seven years expired from the date of Ms. May-den’s disappearance (ie., on or about May 1,1980), or as of May 1,1987. Consequently, on an appropriate petition, the Chancery Court of Harrison County, Mississippi, thereafter entered an order on May 5,1987, declaring Ms. Mayden to be legally dead. Mr. MacMurray, now as the duly appointed executor under Ms. Mayden’s will, presently seeks the back payments stemming from survivor annuity and social security benefits due from both agencies on behalf of Ms. Mayden’s estate up to the day prior to her presumed demise.

With the foregoing procedural history squarely in mind, this court now has under consideration four motions: (i) plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment; (ii) plaintiff’s motion to strike; (iii) defendant’s motion for partial dismissal; and (iv) defendant’s partial cross-motion for summary judgment.2 Without oral argument and for the reasons given below, the court finds that it must grant defendant’s partial motion to dismiss with regard to plaintiff’s prayer for social security benefit payments; grant plaintiff’s motion to strike; deny defendant’s partial cross-motion for summary judgment; and grant plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in part, with respect to his Survivor Benefit Plan annuity claim, but only with regard to liability. The quantum issue is reserved for a separate proceeding.

Facts

At his military retirement in 1967, the husband of Marguerite M. Mayden, Colonel James D. Mayden, elected to participate in the Air Force retirement program, i.e., the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP). The SBP, [325]*325codified at 10 U.S.C. §§ 1447-1455 (1982), provides that the retiree’s surviving spouse shall receive a monthly annuity while the surviving spouse remains alive. Id. at § 1450. Accordingly, Ms. Mayden began receiving annuity payments after her husband died in 1976. Moreover, Ms. Mayden also began receiving widow’s benefits from the Social Security Administration by reason of her husband’s death. The Veterans Administration also made certain benefit payments to Ms. Mayden.

Following thereon, in early May 1980, Ms. Mayden mysteriously disappeared from her home in Biloxi, Mississippi. Two neighbors, Louis Balius and L.L. Bone, saw Ms. Mayden on May 1, 1980, as she drove past them in her car near her home; they swore that she was acting normally and was under no duress (Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment Ex. 3). Apparently, from the evidence before this court, Messrs. Bone and Balius were the last persons to see Ms. Mayden prior to her disappearance.

Following Ms. Mayden’s disappearance, the Biloxi Police Department conducted an investigation of her home on May 2, 1980. Additionally, the family hired a private investigator to continue the search for Ms. Mayden. As to the condition of Ms. May-den’s residence soon after her disappearance, both parties agree that blood was present in the house. Further, there is uncontroverted evidence submitted by defendant that Ms. Mayden’s ear was also missing from her house and found by police later abandoned at a local motel.

Following the disappearance, plaintiff here, John C. MacMurray was appointed conservator of his sister’s estate in July, 1980 by the Chancery Court of Harrison County, Mississippi. As conservator, Mac-Murray served as a custodian to manage the estate of his missing sister. In this capacity, MacMurray received payments from the SBP, the Social Security Administration, and the Veterans Administration on behalf of Ms. Mayden during 1980. However, in February, 1981 the Air Force suspended the monthly payments due Ms. Mayden, and in December, 1981 the Social Security Administration did likewise. The suspension of the annuity payments by the Air Force came after MacMurray, in his capacity as custodian, submitted the annual Certificate of Eligibility for 1981 on behalf of Ms. Mayden as required by Defense Department regulations.3 On May 5, 1987, the Chancery Court declared Ms. Mayden legally dead, accepted her will into probate, and appointed MacMurray as executor of her estate. Thereafter, and pursuant to motion, plaintiff as executor was substituted for plaintiff as conservator before this court.

Contentions of the Parties

A. Plaintiff

MacMurray bases his motion for summary judgment, regarding his entitlement to the back payment on behalf of the estate of Ms. Mayden of the SBP annuity, on the presumption of continuing life from Ms. Mayden’s disappearance (May 1, 1980) up to the point one day prior to the expiration of the seventh year. As of the next day, the Chancery Court declared Ms. Mayden, by reason of her unexplained and continuous absence for seven full years, to be legally dead. Premised on its motion to strike, plaintiff challenges certain pieces of evidence proffered by the defendant to rebut the presumption of continuing life. Furthermore, plaintiff argues that his submission of the Certificate of Eligibility in 1981 to the Air Force, as the custodian of Ms. Mayden’s estate, was in accordance with the regulations, and, therefore, the suspension of payments was legally erroneous. With reference to the Social Security claim, plaintiff admits that the case may not be properly in this court, i.e., there is a want of jurisdiction, but seeks to persuade [326]

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Bluebook (online)
15 Cl. Ct. 323, 1988 U.S. Claims LEXIS 132, 1988 WL 84042, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/macmurray-v-united-states-cc-1988.