Bean v. Bean
| Decision Date | 13 December 2022 |
| Docket Number | 05-21-00286-CV |
| Citation | 658 S.W.3d 401 |
| Parties | Leslie BEAN, Appellant v. Amy Sue BEAN, Appellee |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Steven J. Knight, Ryan Cantrell, Kathryn B. Shields, Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry, P.C., Houston, Sarah Elizabeth Patel Pacheco, Crain, Caton & James, P.C., Houston, Kathleen Beduze, Houston, for Appellant.
David Stuart Cook, Cook Law, PLLC, Houston, Frank H. Newton, Norton Rose Fulbright US, LLP, Houston, for Appellee.
Before Justices Partida-Kipness, Reichek, and Goldstein
This probate-related appeal presents the Court with an issue of first impression concerning the proper marital characterization of property utilized or received by an astronaut during Apollo-era space programs. Such "artifacts" were in the decedent Alan Lavern Bean's (Alan's) possession before his 1982 marriage to appellant Leslie Bean (Leslie). Alan consistently characterized the artifacts as his separate property, and Congress confirmed "full ownership" and "clear title" of such artifacts in 2012 when it enacted H.R. 4158. See Owners and Ownership—Artifacts of Astronauts, Pub. L. No. 112-185, 126 Stat. 1425 (2012) (). The probate court concluded thirty-nine artifacts were Alan's separate property. Leslie appeals1 that ruling. Finding no error, we affirm.
Alan was a NASA astronaut in the 1960s and 1970s. In November 1969, Alan made his first flight into space as a member of the Apollo 12 crew. During that mission, Alan became the fourth man to walk on the Moon. In 1973, he served as Commander of NASA's Skylab III mission. During his career at NASA, Alan obtained many artifacts and mementos, some of which were items brought back from his two space missions. Alan had many of those "space artifacts" in his possession at the time of his death. The overarching question on appeal is whether the trial court erred by characterizing thirty-nine of those artifacts as Alan's separate property for purposes of probating Alan's estate.
Alan married his first wife, Sue Ragsdale Bean (Sue), in 1955. He and Sue had two children, appellee Amy Sue Bean (Amy) and Clay Bean (Clay). Amy is Alan's sole-surviving child.2 Alan and Sue separated in April 1976, and divorced on October 7, 1976. As part of the divorce, Alan and Sue voluntarily entered into a Property Settlement and Division Agreement (the property settlement), which divided the community property and designated the parties’ separate property. Exhibit A to the property settlement listed Alan's personal property. That list of personal property included:
Alan retired from NASA and the United States Air Force in 1981.
Alan married Leslie, his second wife, in 1982. Before the marriage, Alan and Leslie entered into an Agreement in Contemplation of Marriage (the prenuptial agreement), which they signed on July 15, 1982. The stated purpose and intent of the prenuptial agreement was to allow Alan and Leslie to each "continue to own and to manage his or her separate property," and own all increases from and bear all obligations and liabilities of their respective separate property. Under the prenuptial agreement, Alan and Leslie defined "separate property" as:
[C]onsisting of all property owned or claimed by the respective parties prior to marriage, the property acquired by said party during marriage by gift, devise or descent, and any recovery for personal injuries sustained by the party during marriage, except any recovery for loss of earning capacity during marriage, together with any traceable or identifiable change in form or mutation of such property.
They further agreed to the following concerning their separate property:
Separate Property of the Parties. All of the properties, both real and personal, owned by each of the parties, respectively, as of the date of this Agreement and as of the date of the marriage are hereby declared, respectively, to be the separate property of such party; in addition, all properties which are acquired after the marriage by each of the parties, respectively, shall, to the extent acquired by gift, devise or descent or by purchase with or exchange for separate property or obligations binding only on separate property, be and remain the separate property of such party.
The prenuptial agreement further stated "[f]or the purpose of segregating the properties of the parties," Alan's separate property was set forth in Exhibit A attached to the agreement, and Leslie's separate property was set forth in Exhibit B.
The three-page list of Alan's separate property on Exhibit A to the prenuptial agreement stated Alan's separate property consisted of "[a]ll items owned by Alan L. Bean as of July 15, 1982" including but not limited to the items listed in Exhibit A.
The list included the following space-related items:
In addition to the separate property listed in Exhibits A and B, Alan and Leslie agreed that any property acquired after the marriage "by gift, devise or descent or by purchase with or exchange for separate property or obligations binding only on separate property" would remain the separate property of the party acquiring it.
Alan signed his Last Will and Testament (the Will) on April 25, 2007. The Will mentions and incorporates the property settlement and the prenuptial agreement and emphasizes Alan's desire and intent to segregate his separate property, as set out in Exhibit A to the prenuptial agreement, from his and Leslie's community property. In the Will, Alan updated the status of the items listed in Exhibit A to the prenuptial agreement. Alan confirmed the items referencing space artifacts in Exhibit A were within Alan's possession at the time he executed the Will.
The Will states several times that Alan believes the items listed as his separate property in the prenuptial agreement and in the Will are his separate property and should be disbursed upon his death as he sets out in the Will:
The sections of the Will entitled "My Separate Property – A Precise Look After More Than 24 Years" through and including "My Copyrights and Royalties" comprise fifteen pages of the Will, include detailed descriptions of property, and provide extensive, detailed instructions for how each item of property should be handled upon Alan's death.
In the first section, titled "My Separate Property – A Precise Look After More Than 24 Years," Alan listed several personal items that "were retained" as Alan's separate property, including his "space artifacts, mementos, coins, stamps, envelopes (covers), and medallions" and his "personal desk." The Will states each of the items in that list "is conveyed under specific Sections of this Will, which follow."
In the next section titled "A Roadmap for My Property's Distribution," Alan states he is "giving and bequeathing my personal property with very specific instructions" and "I have not conveyed any of my property (including ... space artifacts and mementos) at the time this Will was signed." Alan also included instructions for how to determine if Alan conveyed any separate property after signing the Will. Specifically, Alan stated he "will issue the beneficiary a notarized written receipt to that effect." He instructed the trustees and executors to use the existence of a notarized written receipt as a litmus test for ownership. If a party claiming ownership could not produce a receipt, then the trustees and executors were instructed to presume Alan did not promise the property to the alleged claimant, and the person does not own the property.
In the section titled "NASA Property, Which was Given to Me, That is in My Possession," Alan states "certain artifacts, which flew aboard" the Apollo 12 and Skylab 3, Mission II flights were given to him by "NASA through officials at the Johnson Space Center." The Will states those artifacts are Alan's "personal property and should not be returned to NASA nor should they be brought to the undue attention of the U.S. Government." Those artifacts "include, but are not limited to the following items":
According to the Will, Alan used the hammer on the Moon. The hammer was scheduled to be left on the Moon, but Alan brought it back with him instead. Alan states in the Will that "NASA reviewed the situation and said the hammer...
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