Shoenthal v. Shoenthal, 337 Ga. App. 515

Background

Judge Elliot Shoenthal, a DeKalb County employee, completed a signed change-of-beneficiary form on November 25, 2013, naming his two daughters (Plaintiffs) as sole pension beneficiaries, but did not mail or deliver the form to the Pension Board before his death on December 1, 2013.
He had earlier inquired by e-mail to the Board clerk about how to change pension beneficiaries and was told to use a form available online; he indicated he would complete it.
After his death, his widow Fran applied for and began receiving the pension; the signed change form was found in Judge Shoenthal’s desk and one daughter hand-delivered it to the Board about a month after his death.
Plaintiffs sued the Board and Fran seeking declaratory relief, mandamus, breach of contract, and tort claims, arguing the form reflected the decedent’s intent and should be effective.
The Board and Fran moved for judgment on the pleadings, asserting Pension Code § 908 requires written notice "to the pension board" by the participant; the trial court granted judgment for defendants.
The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding the decedent never delivered written notice to the Board and plaintiffs lacked authority to deliver the form after his death, so the beneficiary change was ineffective.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether § 908 requires the participant personally to deliver written notice to the pension board to change beneficiaries	Shoenthal’s completed form and surrounding acts suffice as "written notice"; the Board need only receive written notice, not necessarily directly from the participant	§ 908 requires written notice "to the pension board," i.e., delivery to the Board while participant alive; no delivery occurred	Held for defendants: participant must provide written notice to the Board; no delivery occurred, so change ineffective
Whether equitable relief can validate the change despite nondelivery	Trial court should use equity to effectuate decedent’s intent where he did what he could	Board’s regulations must be complied with; decedent did not do substantially all required	Held for defendants: Westmoreland not applicable; decedent did not substantially complete required acts, so equity cannot override statutory delivery requirement
Whether a third party’s post-death hand-delivery constitutes effective notice	The daughter’s hand-delivery of the signed form after death should be treated as the Board’s receipt of a valid written change	Post-death delivery by someone without agency cannot effect change; any agency ended at death	Held for defendants: no allegation of agency or direction; post-death delivery ineffective
Whether the pleadings supported denying judgment on the pleadings given factual disputes	Plaintiffs rely on intent and circumstantial evidence to create factual dispute	Defendants assert undisputed failure to deliver defeats plaintiffs’ claims as a matter of law	Held for defendants: accepting plaintiffs’ pleaded facts, still no legal basis for relief because statutory delivery was absent

Key Cases Cited

Trop, Inc. v. City of Brookhaven, 296 Ga. 85 (motion for judgment on the pleadings standard)
Alexander v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., 305 Ga. App. 641 (pleadings construed in favor of appellants)
Faircloth v. Coleman, 211 Ga. 356 (regulations for changing beneficiaries must be complied with)
Westmoreland v. Westmoreland, 280 Ga. 33 (equity may validate beneficiary change when decedent did substantially all required acts)
Greater Georgia Life Ins. Co. v. Eason, 292 Ga. App. 682 (fact issue where employer had no record and claimant had copy of change form)
Stinson v. Gray, 232 Ga. 542 (agency to deliver is revoked by principal’s death)
Deal v. Coleman, 294 Ga. 170 (statutory construction: give text plain and ordinary meaning)
Daniel Corp. v. Reed, 291 Ga. 596 (courts attribute ordinary meanings to ordinance words)
Holland Ins. Grp., LLC v. Senior Life Ins. Co., 329 Ga. App. 834 (failure to state cause of action supports judgment on the pleadings)
Dunn v. Venture Bldg. Grp., Inc., 283 Ga. App. 500 (agency and apparent authority principles)