Preview:

Final Copy 291 Ga. 107 S11G1145. APPLETON v. ALCORN et al. BENHAM, Justice. This appeal stems from this Court's grant of a writ of certiorari. The record shows that appellee Tiffany Marie Alcorn, as executrix of the estate of her father Richard Alcorn, and her sister, appellee Amy Darlene Alcorn, brought a breach of contract action in which they asserted that their father's second wife, appellant Bonnie Ann Appleton, contractually waived her right to retain the proceeds of their deceased father's employer-provided 401(k) plan and life insurance policy by entering a settlement agreement incorporated into an order of separate maintenance executed approximately a year prior to the father's death. The parties do not dispute that, under the terms of the employer's benefits plans, the plan administrator properly paid out the benefits to appellant.1 Appellees, however, contend that appellant waived her right to keep the funds under the settlement agreement which provides in pertinent part:

Although the decedent did not designate a beneficiary for the 401(k) plan, the terms of the plan required the funds to be paid to the surviving spouse which was appellant. Appellant was the named beneficiary of the life insurance policy at the time of decedent's death.

1

Each party shall have the right to name any person or organization they choose as beneficiary of their life insurance policies. Each party waives any interest they have in the other party's life insurance proceeds, cash value, or otherwise. The parties agree to waive and release any rights or claims they may now have to any retirement pay, benefits, or privileges earned by the other during the marriage. The Wife hereby waives all rights to claim any interest or share in the Husband's [I]ndividual Retirement Accounts, which shall become his sole property. In the same manner, the Husband hereby waives all rights to claim any interest or share in the Wife's Individual Retirement Accounts, which shall become her sole property. Appellant moved to dismiss the action pursuant to OCGA

Download S11G1145. APPLETON v. ALCORN et al..pdf

Georgia Law