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Federated Services Insurance v. Personal Representative of Estate of Norberg6/12/2000
In a survival action, a panel of arbitrators awarded damages to a young man's estate for the inheritance he would have received from his parents if he had outlived them. We hold the award was erroneous on its face and the trial court properly vacated it.
David Norberg, while driving his employer's truck, died in a head-on collision with another vehicle. David was not at fault. At age 29, David left no spouse or dependents, and no will. David's estate, whose beneficiaries were his mother and father, received the other driver's liability insurance policy limits of $50,000. The estate then made an underinsured motorist (UIM) claim against Federated Services Insurance Company, David's employer's insurance company. The policy limits were $500,000. The parties submitted the UIM claim to arbitration, as allowed by the contract of insurance.
The estate's claim was based on the Survival of Actions statute, RCW 4.20.046. A panel of three arbitrators issued their decision on March 9, 1998. The arbitrators awarded the estate $273,000 for David's lost earnings. With one arbitrator dissenting, the panel awarded to the estate additional damages of $400,000 for David's loss of prospective inheritance from his parents.
The superior court granted Federation's motion to vacate the award of $400,000 for lost inheritance. The estate appeals from that order.
TIMELINESS
The estate first argues that Federated's motion to vacate the arbitration award for lost inheritance should have been dismissed as untimely. On March 20, 1998, the estate filed a motion to confirm judgment on the award and noted it to be heard on April 6. On March 31, Federated filed a response opposing confirmation and a motion to vacate the award of damages. Federated requested that the court either consider its motion to vacate in conjunction with the estate's motion to confirm, or stay the confirmation proceeding until a superior court ruled on Federated's motion to vacate. The court issued an order scheduling both the motion to confirm and the motion to vacate to be heard on April 6.
The estate objected to having Federated's motion to vacate heard on April 6 because the estate did not receive timely notice of the motion. The court set a hearing for April 2 to consider the estate's objections to the scheduling order.
By April 2, the parties had worked out an agreed scheduling order. Federated would pay the award for lost earnings immediately, and could then continue to pursue its motion to vacate the award for lost inheritance. The parties agreed to entry of judgment on the award. The estate agreed to forbear execution on the judgment until the superior court ruled on Federated's motion to vacate. Later, the court granted Federated's motion to vacate the lost inheritance award.
On appeal, the estate contends that a motion to vacate must be heard at the same time as a motion to confirm judgment on an arbitration award. The estate did not raise this issue below. Indeed, the estate stipulated to a scheduling order that explicitly anticipated the court's consideration of the two motions at different times. However, the estate claims that once the trial court confirmed the lost earnings portion of the award, it lost jurisdiction to entertain a motion to vacate the remainder of the award. A party can raise lack of trial court jurisdiction for the first time on appeal, RAP 2.5(a). And if the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the motion to vacate, the stipulation would be of no account because parties cannot stipulate to jurisdiction. See Barnett v. Hicks, 119 Wn.2d 151, 829 P.2d 1087 (1992).
'Subject matter jurisdiction is the autho
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