Estate of Maldonado v. Bailey

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court held that wrongful death proceeds received by a surviving spouse are not property owned by the spouse at the decedent’s death and therefore are not included in the decedent’s augmented estate for calculating the surviving spouse’s elective share. The court distinguished survivorship claims, which arise from the decedent’s pre-death injuries and constitute probate assets. The court reversed and remanded for determination of what portion of the asbestos settlement, if any, represented survivorship claims.

Holdings

1. A surviving spouse's interest in or proceeds from a wrongful death claim are not property owned by the surviving spouse at the time of the decedent's death and are not included in the augmented estate under AS 13.12.207.
2. When the decedent is survived by a spouse, children, or other dependents, wrongful death proceeds are excluded from the decedent's net probate estate and therefore are not included in the augmented estate under that category.
3. Any portion of the settlement attributable to survivorship claims is a probate asset of the decedent's estate and must be included in the augmented estate for purposes of calculating the surviving spouse's elective share.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a surviving spouse's interest in wrongful death proceeds is property owned by the spouse at the decedent's death and therefore included in the decedent's augmented estate under AS 13.12.207.
2. Whether wrongful death proceeds received by surviving beneficiaries are included in the decedent's net probate estate under AS 13.12.204.
3. Whether settlement proceeds attributable to survivorship claims are probate assets included in the augmented estate for calculating the surviving spouse's elective share.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded