Angela Chapman and Kristine Ford
v.
Barbara Brechler
Appellee
Angela Chapman and Kristine Ford
Appellant
Barbara Brechler
Attorney for the Appellee
Michael R. Bovee and Jill M. Davis
Attorney for the Appellant
Steven R. Postolka and Stephen F. Avery
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clay County, Don E. Courtney, Judge. AFFIRMED. Heard by Potterfield, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ. Opinion by Doyle, J. (10 pages)
Barbara Brechler appeals from the district court’s summary judgment rulings overruling her motion and sustaining the motion of Angela Chapman and Kristine Ford, her deceased husband Carl’s daughters. OPINION HOLDS: First, we find Barbara was a proper party to the proceeding because Barbara’s right to be Carl’s designated beneficiary of his retirement account was in dispute. Second, we agree with the district court that, under the terms of Carl and his ex-wife’s 2003 dissolution decree, to which Carl agreed, Carl’s daughters were to be named beneficiaries of the retirement account and therefore entitled to whatever funds, if any, remained in the account upon his death. Carl’s changing the account’s beneficiary designation to Barbara was in violation of that decree. Consequently, the district court did not error in its summary judgment rulings. We therefore affirm the district court’s ruling sustaining Carl’s daughters’ motion for summary judgment and overruling Barbara’s motion for summary judgment.
