Staelens ex rel. Estate of Staelens v. Staelens, Civil Action No. 08-30159-KPN.

• Decision Date: 11 January 2010
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 08-30159-KPN.
• Citation: 677 F. Supp.2d 499
• Parties: Karen M. STAELENS, Administratrix of the ESTATE OF Aaron J. STAELENS, Plaintiff v. Nadine STAELENS, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

677 F.Supp.2d 499

Karen M. STAELENS, Administratrix of the ESTATE OF Aaron J. STAELENS, Plaintiff v. Nadine STAELENS, Defendant.

Civil Action No. 08-30159-KPN.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

January 11, 2010.

John C. Gates Callahan, George L. Goodridge, III, Curtiss, Carey, Gates, Graves & Gooldridge LLP, Greenfield, MA, for Defendant.

Mark A. Tanner, Bacon Wilson, P.C., Morse & Sacks, Northampton, MA, for Plaintiff/Defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER WITH REGARD TO PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO REMAND (Document No. 17), PLAINTIFF'S MOTIONS TO STRIKE (Document Nos. 18 and 19) AND CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT (Document Nos. 14 and 20)

NEIMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

This dispute concerns the proceeds of a 401(k) profit sharing account of the late Aaron Staelens ("Aaron"). Aaron's mother, Karen Staelens ("Karen"), as administratrix of his estate, filed this declaratory judgment action against Aaron's former wife, Nadine Staelens ("Nadine"). Nadine, in turn, filed a declaratory judgment counterclaim. The parties have consented to the jurisdiction of this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c) and submitted cross-motions for summary judgment.¹

For the reasons which follow, Karen's motion for summary judgment will be denied and Nadine's motion will be allowed. Relatedly, Karen's motion to remand the case to state court (Document No. 17) will be denied and her motions to strike (Document Nos. 18 and 19) will be granted in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Except as otherwise noted, the following facts are undisputed. Nadine and Aaron married in Conway, Massachusetts, on September 23, 1989. (Def.'s Facts ¶ 1.) Nearly fifteen years later, on September 9, 2004, they were divorced by a Judgment of Divorce Nisi entered by the Franklin County Probate and Family Court pursuant to the provisions of Mass. Gen.L. ch. 208, § 1A. (Id. ¶¶ 2, 3.) The judgment, among other things, directed Nadine and Aaron to comply with the terms of the agreement they filed with the Probate Court on July 22, 2004. (Id. ¶ 4.) The judgment incorporated the terms of the Separation Agreement but indicated that the agreement survived as an independent contract. (Id. ¶ 5.)

During the course of the marriage, Aaron was employed as a truck driver at Rice Oil Co., Inc. ("Rice Oil") in Greenfield. (Id. ¶ 6.) On September 13, 2001, Aaron completed a designation of beneficiary form for Rice Oil's 401(k) profit sharing plan. (Id. ¶ 7.) The form named Nadine as the beneficiary of Aaron's 401(k) account, listing her as Aaron's "spouse." (Id. ¶ 8; Pl.'s Response ¶ 8.) Thereafter, Aaron never filed or completed another form either removing Nadine or naming another individual as his 401(k) beneficiary. (Def.'s Facts ¶ 9.)

In any event, Nadine retained Thomas O'Connor as her divorce attorney, a mutual friend of both Aaron and Nadine. (Id. ¶¶ 12, 13; Pl.'s Response ¶ 13.) He prepared the Separation Agreement, Petition for Divorce and, possibly, the required Financial Statements as well. (Def.'s Facts ¶ 14.)

The Separation Agreement, in Article Seven, includes the following language: "Husband will retain his . . . savings and credit union accounts and his retirement (401 K) while Wife will retain . . . her savings and IRA and checking accounts. . . . Each party has a life insurance policy with which they may do what they wish." (Id. ¶ 15; Complaint, Exhibit.) Below this language, in handwriting, is the following sentence: "Each party agrees that they sic will retain their separate pension agreements and plans except as stated above and renounce any interest in the pension of the other." (Def.'s Facts ¶ 16.) This language, which was inserted at the request of the judge to address what he perceived was an omission in the agreement, was initialed by both parties. (Id. ¶¶ 17, 18.)

The Separation Agreement also includes the following language in Article Ten:

Except as provided herein, the Husband and Wife each hereby waives any right at law or in equity to take against any last Will, and by the other, including the rights of the elective share, dower or courtesy and hereby waives, renounces, and relinquishes unto the other, their respective heirs, executors, administrators and assigns forever, all and every interest of any kind or character which either may now have or may hereinafter acquire in or to any real or personal property of the other and whether now owned or hereinafter acquired by either.

(Id. ¶ 19.) At her deposition, Nadine testified that she did not understand the meaning of Article Ten. (Id. ¶ 20.) However, she also testified—with regard to the application of Articles Seven and Ten—that she understood that the agreement prevented her from being able to ask for a portion of the 401(k) account while Aaron was still alive. (Id. ¶ 21.) Nadine also testified to her understanding that the agreement prevented her from changing her mind in the future and asking for a portion of the 401(k) account. (Id. ¶ 22.) Nonetheless, Nadine also understood that the Agreement would not prevent her from acting as Aaron's beneficiary in the event he elected to continue to name her as such. (Id. ¶ 23)

Following their divorce, Nadine and Aaron's relationship was "friendly." (Id. ¶ 24; Pl.'s Response ¶ 24.) They spoke on the phone "almost weekly" and saw one another "once a month." (Def.'s Facts ¶ 25; Pl.'s Response ¶ 25.) Unfortunately, on March 28, 2008, Aaron died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. (Id. ¶ 34.) At the time, the Rice Oil 401(k) policy still named Nadine as the designated beneficiary. (Id. ¶ 35; Pl.'s Response ¶ 35.) The money from Aaron's 401(k) account has since been transferred to an account established in Nadine's name. (Pl.'s Brief at 4.)

After his death, Aaron's mother, Karen, contacted Nadine and asked that she sign papers which would effectively waive her right to receive the beneficiary interest in both the life insurance and 401(k) accounts. (Def.'s Facts ¶ 37.)² Nadine declined to sign the papers. Karen's counsel subsequently contacted Nadine's counsel and asked that Nadine sign a disclaimer and renunciation of any interest in the 401(k) plan. (Id. ¶ 38.) Again, Nadine declined. (Id. ¶ 39.)

In June of 2008, Karen, as executrix of Aaron's estate, initiated this one-count declaratory judgment action in state court. Citing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., Nadine removed the action to this forum. At the initial scheduling conference on November 6, 2008, the court ordered, with the mutual consent of the parties, that Nadine not transfer or use any of the funds from the life insurance or 401(k) accounts.

Following discovery, Nadine filed a motion for summary judgment. In response Karen filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, two motions to strike, and a motion to remand the matter to state court.

II. KAREN'S MOTION TO REMAND

Although she did not object to Nadine's removal of this matter from state court, Karen now seeks a remand based on dicta in a recently decided Supreme Court case, Kennedy v. Plan Adm'r for DuPont Sav. & Inv. Plan, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 865, 172 L.Ed.2d 662 (2009). Kennedy, which will be discussed in greater detail below, involved an ex-wife who signed a waiver in her divorce agreement but nonetheless remained as the beneficiary of her ex-husband's retirement plan at the time of his death. Karen argues that Kennedy calls for a remand here because, in footnote 10 thereof, the court implied that, when proceeds have been distributed to a former spouse, the operative question becomes one of "common-law" waiver. (See discussion infra.)

The parties agreed, however, that this case involved the court's federal question jurisdiction (via ERISA) when it was first removed, if not now as well. That is sufficient grounds for it to remain here. See, e.g., Pedraza v. Holiday Housewares, Inc., 203 F.R.D. 40, 44 (D.Mass.2001) (dismissal of federal questions, upon which removal was based, "does not . . . divest this Court of jurisdiction" or mandate a remand); Williams-Ward v. Lorenzo Pitts, Inc., 908 F.Supp. 48, 52 (D.Mass.1995) (removed federal question case would not be remanded, even though plaintiff waived all his federal claims). Cf. Ching v. Mitre Corp., 921 F.2d 11, 13 (1st Cir.1990) ("An amendment to a complaint after removal designed to eliminate the federal claim will not defeat federal jurisdiction.") (emphasis in original). Accordingly, Karen's motion to remand will be denied.

III. KAREN'S MOTIONS TO STRIKE

Karen's two motions to strike seek to exclude from the court's consideration seven paragraphs of Nadine's Statement of Facts which accompanied her motion for summary judgment. In short, Karen argues that particular paragraphs contain impermissible hearsay. For the reasons which follow, the court will strike only paragraph 32. As will be shown below, however, little of what remains will even be considered by the court with regard to the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment.

Karen's first motion targets Paragraphs 26 and 27 which aver that, after their divorce, Aaron told Nadine that he continued to name her as the beneficiary on his 401(k) account (Def.'s Facts ¶ 26) because he wanted to be sure she would be okay and that there was no one else to whom he wished to leave the money (id. ¶ 27). As Karen asserts, both paragraphs contain hearsay statements, namely, verbal assertions made by an individual not currently testifying. In the court's opinion, however, both statements are nonetheless admissible under Fed.R.Evid. 803(3). Rule 803(3) provides a hearsay exception for a "statement of the declarant's then existing state of mind, . . . such as intent, plan, motive, design or mental feeling.)" Here, as is evident, the contents of both paragraphs regard statements made by Aaron as to his intent to retain Nadine as beneficiary on his 401(k) account and, therefore, fall squarely within the Rule 803(3) exception.

Karen's second motion to...