ANGELA ROSE MCCLUSKEY BLANEY, APPELLANT,
v.
PATTY MCCLUSKEY, APPELLEE

Fla. 1st DCA | 1988-07-27
No. 87-1119
MILLS and SHIVERS, JJ., concur.
529 So. 2d 314 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1988) Caution
Cited by 8 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Angela McCluskey Blaney appeals the dismissal of her claim seeking imposition of a constructive trust on insurance proceeds received by her ex-husband's second wife, Patty McCluskey. The court reversed, holding that the complaint states a valid cause of action for constructive trust based on the ex-husband's breach of his divorce decree obligation to maintain life insurance policies.


Holding

The court held that the complaint states a sufficient cause of action for constructive trust. A constructive trust may be imposed to prevent unjust enrichment resulting from abuse of confidence or mistake, and the ex-husband's failure to comply with the divorce decree requirement to maintain the insurance policies constitutes an abuse of confidence or mistake that warrants imposition of a constructive trust.


Headnotes

[1] A constructive trust may be imposed by equity to prevent unjust enrichment resulting from fraud, undue influence, abuse of confidence, or mistake.

[2] The imposition of a constructive trust does not require a showing of fraud, undue influence, abuse of confidence, or mistake by the party against whom the trust is impose…

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“a trust may be constructed by equity: ... to prevent an unjust enrichment of one person at the expense of another as the result of fraud, undue influence, abuse of confidence or mistake in the transaction that originates the problem.”

Establishes the equitable standard for imposing a constructive trust, which does not require proof of fraud or wrongdoing

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Joseph McCluskey was required by his divorce decree to maintain life insurance policies payable to the McCluskey family trust for the benefit of his f…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
WIGGINTON, Judge.

WIGGINTON, Judge.

Appellant appeals the trial judge’s final order of dismissal with prejudice of count II of her second amended complaint, thereby disposing of her suit against appellee. We reverse.

In count I of her second amended complaint, appellant, who was the first wife of Joseph J. McCluskey, sought judgment against Joseph McCluskey’s (McCluskey) estate in the amount of ($110,000), the value of certain insurance policies in existence at the time of her divorce from McCluskey, which were required by the final judgment of dissolution of her marriage to McClus-key to be paid into the McCluskey family trust upon McCluskey’s death. In count II, she sought damages against appellee individually, as well as the estate, through the imposition of a constructive trust on the estate assets in the amount of $110,000.

She alleged that McCluskey had allowed the policies in effect at the time of the divorce to be surrendered and in 1983 and 1984 he had purchased two policies with a combined face amount of $150,000, naming as beneficiary appellee Patty McCluskey, his second wife. She further alleged that, upon McCluskey’s death in 1985, appellee received the proceeds of those policies, $110,000 of which she claims is subject to imposition of a constructive trust.

The record shows that, in his will, McCluskey stated that he deliberately made no provision for the benefit of his children, who are now no longer minors,

... not because of any lack of love or affection, but because I have heretofore taken out life insurance on my life, naming as beneficiary their mother and knowing that she will use the proceeds of such insurance for her own benefit as well as for the benefit of my said children.

Finding that the facts as alleged by appellant in count II of her second amended complaint do not state a cause of action against appellee individually, the trial judge concluded that he had no basis upon which to impose a constructive trust. Thereupon, he dismissed count II of the second amended complaint with prejudice.

In Holmes by Holmes v. Holmes, 463 So. 2d 578 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985), under somewhat similar circumstances, this Court reversed a final judgment in which the trial judge refused to impose a constructive trust upon insurance proceeds. The court, citing Wadlington v. Edwards, 92 So. 2d 629 (Fla.1957), noted that a trust may be constructed by equity:

... to prevent an unjust enrichment of one person at the expense of another as the result of fraud, undue influence, abuse of confidence or mistake in the transaction that originates the problem.

Citing Nuveen v. Board of Public Instruction, 88 F. 2d 175 (5th Cir.1937), the court further recognized that imposition of a constructive trust does not depend upon any showing that the party against whom the constructive trust would be imposed has engaged in any type of fraudulent conduct, undue influence, abuse of confidence, or mistake. In Holmes, the decedent was found to have at least abused a confidence or made a mistake in failing to provide any life insurance on himself for the benefit of his minor child, as had been required by the final judgment of dissolution of his marriage to the party seeking imposition of the trust. Similarly, in the instant case, it appears that McCluskey at least abused a confidence or made a mistake in failing to comply with the final judgment of dissolution requiring him to maintain the life insurance policies naming the McCluskey family trust as beneficiary.

Contrary to appellee’s contention, the fact that the Holmes case involved a support obligation for a minor child, unlike the circumstance here, does not alter the equitable consideration that mandates imposition of the constructive trust in the instant case. The pivotal consideration is the abuse of confidence or mistake on McClus-key’s part which is clearly alleged in count II of appellant’s second amended complaint. Therefore, her complaint does sufficiently state a cause of action for imposition of a constructive trust upon the insurance proceeds, which she has alleged were paid to appellee. Entry of the final order of dismissal of count II in this circumstance was error. REVERSED.

MILLS and SHIVERS, JJ., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • …e of fraudulent conduct, undue influence, abuse of confidence or mistake.... The pivotal consideration is the abuse of confidence or mistake” by the person who failed to maintain insurance in compliance with a valid court order. Blaney v. McCluskey, 529 So. 2d 314, 315-16 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). See also Holmes, 463 So. 2d 578 (constructing trust for children even though no showing that named beneficiary was bad actor); Lowry, 463 So. 2d 540 (holding that children were third-party beneficiaries of stipulation fo…
  • Brown v. Poole, 261 So. 3d 708 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018)
  • Terry v. Terry, 788 So. 2d 1129 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
    …t by maintaining the required life insurance policy and that his suicide was not a conscious choice to terminate the policies and, thereby, violate the final judgment. In so finding, the court distinguished the present case from Blaney v. McCluskey, 529 So. 2d 314 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988), and Tintocalis v. Tintocalis, 20 Cal.App.4th 1590, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 655 (1993). First wife moved for rehearing, but that motion was denied. This timely appeal followed. [*1131] We hold that a constructive trust is inappropriate un…

Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw