Shoenthal et al. v. Dekalb County Employees Retirement System Pension Board et al

Self, Judge.In the third appearance of this case before this Court,^[1] Rachel and Rebecca Shoenthal (collectively “Plaintiffs”), daughters of the late Judge Elliott Shoenthal, contend that the trial court erred in awarding attorney fees to the DeKalb County Employees Retirement System Pension Board (“the Board”) pursuant to OCGA § 9-15-14. We agree and reverse.The underlying facts as set out in Shoenthal v. Shoenthal, 337 Ga. App. 515 (788 SE2d 116) (2016) (hereinafter “Shoenthal II“) are:

On October 25, 2013, about a month before his scheduled surgery, Judge Shoenthal changed the beneficiaries on employer-provided life insurance policies by reducing [his wife Fran's] share of the benefit from 100 percent to 50 percent and designating that each of the Plaintiffs receive 25 percent of the benefit. On the morning of November 18, 2013, Judge Shoenthal e-mailed the clerk of the Board, inquiring about changing the beneficiaries on his pension plan. Specifically, Judge Shoenthal asked, “[w]hat happens to my pension if I die — does it go to my wife? Can I split it between my wife and my children? Second, if I’m able to split it, what do I need to do to modify the beneficiary?” The clerk responded on November 20, 2013, informing Judge Shoenthal that he could change designated beneficiaries by completing a form available on a county website. Judge Shoenthal replied that he would complete a new beneficiary form. That same month, Judge Shoenthal told his sister that he had revised his will to reflect his “intention to leave everything to [Plaintiffs] and little to nothing to Fran.” At a November 23 lunch, Judge Shoenthal told his sister that he was in the process of changing the beneficiary designation for his pension. On November 25, 2013, Judge Shoenthal completed and signed the change-of-beneficiary form, designating the Plaintiffs as the sole beneficiaries. Judge Shoenthal also handwrote, “I want each of my children to receive 50% of my pension.” Attached to the change-of-beneficiary form was a Post-It note containing the Board’s address. Judge Shoenthal placed the form on or in his desk. Over the next two days, Judge Shoenthal worked in his office and handled repairs to his car.