Estate of Frederick v. Frederick

The defendant, James W. Frederick, Jr., appeals the Superior Court’s (Brennan, J.) denial of his motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s petition for declaratory relief, and its decision to grant the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. The trial court held that the defendant’s rights to the proceeds of two annuity contracts were extinguished by the plain language of a divorce decree. We reverse.

In 1979, the defendant was named the beneficiary of two annuity pension accounts which the decedent, Marcia S. Frederick, had purchased in 1970 through the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association…