State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Bierman
| Decision Date | 10 September 2019 |
| Docket Number | NO. 5-18-0426,5-18-0426 |
| Citation | 435 Ill.Dec. 546,139 N.E.3d 618,2019 IL App (5th) 180426 |
| Parties | STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Brittany BIERMAN, as Special Administrator of the Estate of Blake Edward Miller, Deceased, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Eric L. Terlizzi, of Salem, for appellant.
Elizaveta Klementieva and Frank C. Stevens, of Taylor Miller LLC, of Chicago, for appellee.
¶ 1 The decedent, Blake Edward Miller, died as a result of injuries he sustained in a collision involving a nonowned, uninsured vehicle. The plaintiff, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm), brought action against Brittany Bierman, as special administrator of Blake's estate, seeking a declaratory judgment that it owed no coverage for Blake's injuries. State Farm asserted that Blake was not an "insured" for purposes of uninsured motorist coverage and medical payments coverage under three policies of automobile liability insurance issued by State Farm to Winnie Robertson, Blake's former stepmother. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the circuit court entered summary judgment in favor of State Farm. Brittany appeals the circuit court's order. For the following reasons, we reverse the circuit court's order, and we remand for further proceedings.
¶ 3 On June 18, 2016, Blake, a passenger in a nonowned, uninsured vehicle driven by Jared Simcox, was critically injured in a one-vehicle collision, and on July 6, 2016, Blake died from his injuries. On the date of the accident, Blake had been living rent-free with Winnie in her home in Sandoval, Illinois, for approximately six months. Blake, born in 1986, was the biological son of Jodie Ramsey and David Miller. David was married to Winnie from 1993 until 2003, when they divorced, but David continued to periodically reside with Winnie postdivorce until his death in 2009. Winnie never adopted Blake.
¶ 4 Winnie was a named insured pursuant to three State Farm insurance policies, each of which provided uninsured motorist coverage to insureds thereunder. Specifically, State Farm issued policies of motor vehicle insurance to Winnie for a 2000 Ford F-150 pickup truck, another 2000 Ford F-150 pickup truck, and a 2006 Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and the policies were in effect on the date of the automobile accident. All three policies provided uninsured motorist coverage of $100,000 per person/$300,000 per accident. The two policies issued to the Ford pickup trucks also included medical payments coverage of $10,000.
¶ 5 The policies provided, in pertinent part:
We will pay compensatory damages for bodily injury an insured is legally entitled to recover from the owner or driver of an uninsured motor vehicle . The bodily injury must be:
¶ 6 Brittany asserted a claim for medical payments coverage and uninsured motorist coverage on behalf of Blake's estate. In response, on March 19, 2018, State Farm filed its amended complaint for declaratory judgment, asserting that Blake was not insured for uninsured motor vehicle coverage or medical payments coverage because he was not a "resident relative" under the policies issued to Winnie. State Farm asserted that Blake was not Winnie's "resident relative" because he was not related to her by blood, marriage, or adoption on the date of the accident and because he did not "reside[ ] primarily" with Winnie on the date of the accident.
¶ 7 On June 7, 2018, State Farm filed an amended motion for summary judgment, attaching, inter alia , Winnie's affidavit and deposition. In Winnie's affidavit, dated October 30, 2017, she attested that she was not related to Blake by blood and had never adopted him. In her discovery deposition, dated February 19, 2018, Winnie testified that although she had had little prior contact with Blake, he contacted her Christmas 2015 and asked if she could rent a hotel room for him. Winnie testified that because she could not afford to rent a hotel room, she told him he could spend the night in her home. Winnie testified that he brought with him a bag of clothes. Winnie testified that for the next six months, Blake would "come in, spend the night, and leave," and then he would phone a couple days later to ask if he could wash his clothes and spend the night again. Winnie testified that Blake "came and went," "did his laundry at [her] house," and stayed "[m]aybe twice a week." Winnie testified that Blake often spent Friday nights at her home with his daughter. Winnie testified that Blake would spend Saturday nights with his sister, Tanna, and then "he would come home." Winnie testified that Blake stayed with Tanna two or three nights a week, "more than he stayed with anybody." Winnie testified that this arrangement continued until Blake died.
¶ 8 Winnie testified that from Christmas 2015 until June 18, 2016, while Blake stayed at her home, she did not charge him rent. Winnie testified that he did not store belongings at her house but he carried his black bag of clothes wherever he went. Winnie testified that she planned for his stay to be short-term. Winnie testified that Blake slept in her grandson's bedroom and that Blake knew he could not live with her because her grandson stayed with her periodically. Winnie testified that she had told Blake that he could not stay in her home on a permanent basis.
¶ 9 During her deposition, Winnie acknowledged that during a phone conversation with a State Farm agent, she had stated that Blake had lived with her for approximately five months prior to his death. The transcript of the February 2017 telephone call between Winnie and Linda Tyson of State Farm revealed that Winnie had stated that Blake had lived with her on June 18, 2016, that Blake had moved into her home approximately five months prior to the accident, and that Blake did not receive mail at her address.
¶ 10 On June 12, 2018, Brittany also filed a motion for summary judgment, requesting the circuit court to declare that Blake was an "insured" under the policies for purposes of uninsured motorist and medical payments coverage because he was a "resident relative." On July 18, 2018, Brittany filed a motion to supplement her motion for summary judgment and attached the discovery deposition transcript of Jared Simcox. In his deposition dated May 4, 2017, Jared testified that his mother and Blake's mother are sisters. Jared testified that in June 2016, Blake had lived with Winnie for a couple of years. Jared testified that he had visited Blake at Winnie's home, where Blake had his own bedroom and kept his worldly possessions. Jared testified that Blake also kept a dog in Winnie's home. Jared testified that only Winnie and Blake lived in the home.
¶ 11 On August 7, 2018, the circuit court entered summary judgment in favor of State Farm. In its order, the circuit court identified as the central issue whether Blake was a "resident relative" of Winnie, State Farm's named insured. The circuit court concluded that because the facts were conflicting, it could not find as a matter of law that Blake "resided" with Winnie at the time of the accident and therefore denied Brittany's motion for summary judgment. With regard to whether Blake was considered a "relative" of Winnie at the time of the accident, the circuit court noted that Winnie had testified that before December 2015, she had not spoken to Blake for years and had no relationship with David's side of the family. The court concluded that no de facto relationship existed between Winnie and Blake and thereby granted State Farm's amended motion for summary judgment. On September 4, 2018, Brittany filed a timely notice of appeal.
¶ 13 On appeal, Brittany argues that the circuit court improperly entered summary judgment in State Farm's favor. Brittany argues that Blake was an "insured" ...
To continue reading
Request your trial