Dinges v. Dinges

Moylan, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. When Wilton C. Dinges, Sr. died in February, 1974, he left an estate, exclusive of jointly held property and life insurance, in excess of $2,000,000 before taxes. To his daughter, Stephanie Shaw Dinges (the appellant), however, he bequeathed only a weekly “amount which would be equal to the purchasing power of $30.00 per week as determined annually in each year on the first day of the month in which [his] death [occurred] by reference to the cost of living index published by the Department of Labor.” On November 22, 1974, a petition was filed in the Orphans’ Court of Baltimore County by Stephanie through her mother and next friend, Catherine Dallam Dinges, contending that this bequest in the will did not comply with a written agreement entered into between the deceased and Stephanie’s mother in which the deceased agreed to provide for the maintenance and support of Stephanie in his last will and testament. The petition prayed that the amount of money payable to Stephanie be increased based on her needs.

The petition further sought the payment out of the estate of $1,400 in tuition fees to Maryvale Trinity College Preparatory School for the 1974-75 school year under another provision of the written agreement. The Orphans’ Court referred the matter to the equity court for ⁵² construction of the contract and determination of the validity of the claims. On September 28,1974, the equity court issued an opinion construing the contract and disallowing both claims. This appeal follows from that judgment.

Stephanie’s father was married four times. Stephanie’s mother was his third wife. They had two children — Stephanie and Richard. Stephanie’s father had another son by his second marriage.

Stephanie’s mother and father were divorced on December 20, 1960, when Richard was two years old and Stephanie was eight months old. In 1968, Stephanie’s mother filed a petition seeking an increase in alimony and child support. After the taking of the depositions of Mr. Dinges and his accountant, who is now the president of the companies controlled by the deceased during his lifetime, negotiations were entered into between the parties which resulted in an agreement dated March 21,1968. The agreement provided: “FIRST-.That the said Wilton C. Dinges agrees to pay the tuition for private schools for either Richard D. Dinges and/or Stephanie Shaw Dinges, provided that attendance at private school is deemed advisable by the public school counsellors.

However, the said Wilton C. Dinges reserves the right to select the school. SECOND: That the said Wilton C. Dinges agrees to provide for the maintenance and support of the aforesaid minor children by Last Will and Testament until they shall attain-the age of twenty-one years, marry or become self supporting.” The parties further agreed that Mr. Dinges would be permitted to claim the children as exemptions on his income tax returns. A consent order was also entered five days later in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City modifying the divorce decree to provide that Mr. Dinges was to pay to his former wife thé sum of $175 per week as alimony and $28 per week for the support and maintenance of each of the two children. It also provided that Mr. Dinges would have the right to visit with Richard during certain specified times. ⁵³ During her father’s lifetime, Stephanie attended public schools.

In September, 1974, seven months after her father’s death, she was enrolled in Maryvale. She attended Maryvale for the school year 1974-75. The second semester at Maryvale, however, left Stephanie, according to her mother, “emotionally overwrought.” She was unable to continue at the school. The following fall, she was treated on an out-patient basis at the clinic at Sheppard Pratt Hospital.

The bill for Maryvale was $1,400, consisting of $1,000 in tuition and $400 for an annual pledge. Stephanie’s mother sought payment of the bill from her former husband’s estate under the agreement of March 21, 1968. The personal representative of the decedent’s estate refused to pay the bill. The estate contended that the deceased’s right to select the school was a condition precedent to payment of tuition and that since the condition was not met during his lifetime, the claim could not survive his death.

The lower court found that the payment of any bill for private school was contingent both upon the deceased’s right to select the school and upon public school counsellors’ recommendation that the child attend private school. The court held that neither condition was met. Regardless of whether or not the parties intended that the duty to pay tuition for private school survive Mr. Dinges’s death, it is clear that the decision to enroll Stephanie at Maryvale was that of Stephanie’s mother. At the time of Mr. Dinges’s death, Stephanie was attending the eighth grade at Dumbarton Junior High.

Mrs. Dinges felt, however, that she was not getting the education that she needed at Dumbarton. She had been under the care of a psychiatrist during that year. After consulting with Stephanie’s psychiatrist, Mrs. Dinges felt that Stephanie could receive a better education at Maryvale. It was under those