Klein v. Klein

Joseph Klein was an insurance agent with Massachusetts Casualty Insurance Company (MCIC) (defendant). Under Joseph’s contract with MCIC, called the Agent’s Agreement, Joseph was entitled to commissions for renewals of insurance policies he had sold. A second document, called Designation of Death Beneficiary for Commissions under Agent’s Agreement, permitted an agent to designate a beneficiary to receive renewal commissions after the agent’s death. The Designation of Death Beneficiary was expressly an amendment to the Agent’s Agreement, and any change in beneficiary required MCIC’s consent and recording in MCIC’s home office. Joseph executed a Designation of Death Beneficiary designating his son from a previous marriage, Donald Klein (defendant), as beneficiary on April 9, 1979. In an affidavit, James Lyons, MCIC’s general counsel, averred that Lyons filled in Donald Klein’s name before sending the document to Joseph. However, Lyons’s cover letter directed Joseph to fill in his new beneficiary, and Lyons may have sent the completed document to Donald instead of Joseph. On June 9, 1979, Joseph executed a will bequeathing his renewal commissions to his wife, Annabelle Klein, consistent with Joseph’s statements in April 1979. After Joseph’s death, MCIC began paying Joseph’s commissions to Donald. Annabelle sued Donald and MCIC seeking the commissions. Annabelle argued that the designation was testamentary and changed by Joseph’s later will. Annabelle claimed that when Joseph executed the document, he signed it in blank and never saw the completed document. The trial court granted summary judgment dismissing Annabelle’s claim, holding that the April 9, 1979, designation of death beneficiary controlled the commissions’ disposition rather than the will. Annabelle appealed.