Fister v. Allstate Life Insurance Co.

• Decision Date: 12 October 2001
• Docket Number: No. 15,15
• Citation: 366 Md. 201,783 A.2d 194
• Parties: Maria Angelique FISTER, Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF Mary Gaye FISTER, et al., v. ALLSTATE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

783 A.2d 194

366 Md. 201

Maria Angelique FISTER, Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF Mary Gaye FISTER, et al., v. ALLSTATE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY.

No. 15, Sept. Term 2001.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

October 12, 2001.

Jeffrey L. Forman (Bruce E. Kauffman and Forman, P.A., on brief), Towson, for petitioners.

Bryan D. Bolton (Michael R. McCann of Funk & Bolton, P.A., on brief), Baltimore, for respondent.

Argued before BELL, C.J., ELDRIDGE, RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL, HARRELL and BATTAGLIA, JJ BATTAGLIA, Judge.

The petitioners, the beneficiaries of life insurance policies of the decedent, question the propriety of the Court of Special Appeal's reversal of the trial court's grant of summary judgment in petitioners' favor. The life insurance policies in question exclude coverage for death by suicide. Although the decedent unquestionably wanted to die, her attempts to kill herself failed, and she ultimately convinced a close friend to pull the trigger of a shotgun aimed at her head. The Circuit Court for Frederick County ruled that the insured's death was not a suicide and entered summary judgment in favor of petitioners. The respondent, Allstate Life Insurance Company (hereinafter "Allstate"), appealed and the Court of Special Appeals reversed, finding that Fister committed suicide because, as a matter of law, the term "suicide" must be interpreted from the perspective of the insured. Petitioners now challenge the decision of the Court of Special Appeals. We reverse the decision of the Court of Special Appeals and hold that summary judgment was properly granted. We conclude that the term "suicide" in Section 16-215 of the Insurance Article cannot be interpreted to include a death that occurs at the hands of another as the clear and unambiguous definition of the term "suicide" is to "intentionally take one's own life." Therefore, the decedent's death is not a suicide, and the beneficiaries are entitled to recover the proceeds of the life insurance policies.

I. Background

A. Facts

The parties stipulated to the relevant facts in this case. Of particular import, it is uncontested that in September of 1996, Mary Gaye Fister wished to die. During the months prior to her death, Fister left several messages with friends and family, conveying her intention to end her life. Fister had incurred substantial debts, both in her personal life (including extensive gambling and consumer debt, as well as outstanding taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service) and in her business life (Fister's business, Fister Accounting Services, Inc., defaulted on several bank loans and credit accounts), which totaled more than $1.2 million by the time of her death. In addition, in early September 1996, a criminal investigation was initiated concerning Fister's involvement in the marketing and sale of interests in a fictitious entity called the Delaware Physicians Investment Trust.¹

Fister attempted, on several occasions, to find someone to kill her. She asked friends and a former boyfriend to assist her in either performing the task or finding someone who would. One of her closest friends, Lawrence Goldman, after repeatedly refusing to assist Fister, ultimately agreed to accompany her on September 10, 1996, when she resolved to kill herself. Fister and Goldman drove to a site on Baldwin Road in Monrovia, Maryland, with a 12 gauge shotgun that Fister had purchased a few days earlier. Fister told Goldman that her death could not appear to be a suicide because her life insurance policies excluded coverage in the event that the insured, Fister, commits "suicide." Therefore, intending to make it appear as though she was murdered, she asked Goldman to hold the shotgun to her head while she pulled the trigger. Fister had tied a string to the shotgun trigger housing so that she could pull the trigger while Goldman held and aimed the shotgun. Ms. Fister attempted to pull the string several times, but the shotgun did not discharge. According to Goldman, "[s]he kept pulling and pulling and pulling and then she started yelling at me saying, `Let's do it! Let's do it! Let's do it!' She said, `Larry, for the first time in your life, do something right, help me! Help me!' And before I knew it, I had pulled the trigger." After pulling the trigger, Goldman disposed of the gun and left the scene. Fister's body was discovered by a police officer several hours later. Goldman was charged with first degree murder, and pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter, receiving an agreed upon sentence of five years imprisonment.

B. Insurance Policies

Between November 1994 and May 1995, Allstate issued five separate life insurance policies, bearing an aggregate death benefit of $1,650,000, on the life of Mary Gaye Fister. Three of those life insurance policies are the subject of this appeal:² the beneficiary of Policy XXX-XXX-XXX, issued in the amount of $1,000,000, is the Estate of Mary Gaye Fister (hereinafter "Estate"); the beneficiary of Policy XXX-XXX-XXX, issued in the amount of $100,000, is Dorothy Winslow, the decedent's mother; the beneficiaries of Policy XXX-XXX-XXX, issued in the amount of $200,000, are Lawrence Goldman and William Tad Cole. With respect to the latter policy, however, the contingent beneficiary is the Estate.³

Each of the Allstate policies contained the following exclusion to insurance coverage:

Suicide—If the insured dies by suicide while sane or insane within 2 years from the start date of the contract:

1) We will only pay a refund of the payments made; and

2) The contract will stop.

Notably, Fister's death is within the two year period from the date of issuance of each of the policies.

C. Legal Proceedings

Petitioners filed a complaint against Allstate in the Circuit Court for Frederick County seeking to recover the death benefits under the life insurance policies covering Mary Gaye Fister.⁴ Cross motions for summary judgment were filed by petitioners and Allstate. On February 17, 2000, the Circuit Court entered summary judgment in favor of petitioners. The court ruled that, because the term "suicide" was ambiguous, it must be construed as one would construe any ambiguous term in a contract, i.e. against the maker of that contract (Allstate). Therefore Fister's death could not be considered a suicide.

Allstate appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, arguing that Fister's death was a suicide because courts must view the term of contention, even though unambiguous,⁵ from the perspective of the insured. Allstate also argued that the slayer's rule precluded recovery by petitioners. The petitioners responded that once a court deems a statutory or contract term to be unambiguous, the analysis stops and courts must determine the rights of the parties based on that unambiguous definition; therefore, the petitioners are entitled to recover because, as a matter of law, Fister's death was not a suicide.

The Court of Special Appeals reversed the Circuit Court's judgment and remanded the case with directions to enter judgment in favor of Allstate. Allstate Life Ins. Co. v. Fister, 136 Md.App. 368, 765 A.2d 1024 (2001). The Court of Special Appeals agreed with the parties that the term "suicide" was unambiguous, but later held that "suicide" included instances where the decedent did not complete the final act herself. Id. at 379, 765 A.2d at 1030. The Court of Special Appeals further concluded that in considering whether the death was a suicide, it was required, as a matter of law, to view the matter from the perspective of the insured, i.e. Fister's perspective. Id. at 381-82, 765 A.2d at 1031. Thus, the Court held that for purposes of her life insurance policies, Fister died as a result of suicide, effectively canceling the death benefits under the policies. Id. at 382, 765 A.2d at 1031.

Petitioners sought, and this Court granted, a writ of certiorari to consider whether the definition of suicide, used both in statute and in contract, encompasses circumstances where the death of one, while clearly intended and desired, actually occurs at the hands of another. Because we conclude that the definition of "suicide" unambiguously entails the intentional taking of one's own life, we hold that, as a matter of law, Fister's death was not a suicide and petitioners are entitled to recover the benefits from the insurance policies.

II. Standard of Review

Our review of a grant of summary judgment involves the determination of whether a dispute of material fact exists, Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Ross, 365 Md. 351, 359, 779 A.2d 380, 385 (2001); Williams v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, 359 Md. 101, 113, 753 A.2d 41, 47 (2000); Gross v. Sussex, Inc., 332 Md. 247, 255, 630 A.2d 1156, 1160 (1993), and whether the trial court's ruling was legally correct. See Williams, 359 Md. at 113-14, 753 A.2d at 47-48 (quoting Goodwich v. Sinai Hosp. of Baltimore, Inc., 343 Md. 185, 204, 680 A.2d 1067, 1076 (1996)). Because the facts are undisputed, we are left to determine whether the trial court correctly interpreted and applied the relevant law to the uncontested facts. As with all questions of law, we review this matter de novo. See Register of Wills for Baltimore County v. Arrowsmith, 365 Md. 237, 249, 778 A.2d 364, 371 (2001).

III. Discussion

As with any contract, our interpretation of an insurance policy, its scope, and its limitations, involves discerning the terms of the contract itself. See Cole v. State Farm Mutual Ins. Co., 359 Md. 298, 305, 753 A.2d 533, 537 (2000); Kendall v. Nationwide Ins. Co., 348 Md. 157, 165, 702 A.2d 767, 771 (1997); Chantel Assoc. v. Mount Vernon Fire Ins. Co., 338 Md. 131, 142, 656 A.2d 779, 784 (1995). Generally, when interpreting a contract's terms, our primary consideration is the "customary, ordinary, and accepted meaning" of the language used. See Cole, 359 Md. at 305, 753 A.2d at 537 (quoting Lloyd E. Mitchell, Inc. v. Maryland Casualty Co., 324 Md. 44, 56, 595 A.2d 469, 475 (1991)).

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