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Shoenthal v. Shoenthal

Because the late judge never delivered the change-of-beneficiary form designating his daughters as the sole beneficiaries of his employer-provided life insurance plan, he did not comply with the DeKalb County Pension Code's requirement for changing designated beneficiaries, and the judge's widow was therefore entitled to the pension benefits, not his daughters.

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Rachel and Rebecca Shoenthal collectively, Plaintiffs, daughters of the late Judge Elliot Shoenthal, filed a complaint against the DeKalb County Employees Retirement System Pension Board, members of the Board collectively, the Board, and Fran Shoenthal, alleging that the Board wrongfully disbursed and Fran improperly claimed their deceased father’s entire pension benefits when their father had designated that benefits be paid to them. The trial court granted the Board’s and Fran’s motions for judgment on the pleadings on the ground that Judge Shoenthal did not provide notice to the Board of a change in beneficiaries. On appeal, Plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred 1 by interpreting the DeKalb County Pension Code the Pension Code to require an employee personally to provide notice of the change in beneficiaries; 2 by failing to use its equitable powers to effectuate Judge Shoenthal’s expressed intent to change beneficiaries; 3 by failing to consider the merits of their individual claims; and 4 by considering matters outside the pleadings. We affirm because the trial court correctly determined that Judge Shoenthal did not provide written notice to the Board as required by the Pension Code, and thus did not effectuate the change in beneficiaries upon which Plaintiffs’ claims rest.

A motion for judgment on the pleadings should be granted only if the moving party is clearly entitled to judgment. Trop, Inc. v. City of Brookhaven, 296 Ga. 85, 87 764 SE2d 398 2014 citation and punctuation omitted. On appeal, we construe the pleadings in the light most favorable to the appellants, drawing all reasonable inferences in their favor. Alexander v. Wachovia Bank, N. A., 305 Ga. App. 641, 641 700 SE2d 640 2010. All allegations of the moving party that have been denied are taken as false, while all well pleaded material allegations of the opposing party’s pleadings are taken as true. Id.

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