Trapasso v. Lewis

Victoria Regina Trapasso v. Elliot N. Lewis, Personal Representative of the Estate of Thomas Edwin Kramer, No. 2843, September Term 2018. Opinion by Beachley, J. MARRIAGE—UNLICENSED MARRIAGE—VALIDITY In 2003, husband and wife, without obtaining a marriage license, executed a “Marriage Agreement” and participated in a religious marriage ceremony, thereafter holding themselves out as married. They thereafter purchased property as tenants by the entireties. In 2015, wife executed a deed purportedly transferring her interest in the property to a trust.

After wife’s death, the trustee filed a petition to quiet title to the property, alleging that the property was held as tenants in common because the unlicensed marriage was not valid under Maryland law. Husband alleged that the marriage was valid and that, as the surviving tenant, he was the sole owner of the property. Following a bench trial, the circuit court determined that the parties were validly married and, accordingly, that husband was the sole owner of the property by virtue of the tenants by the entireties deeds. The trustee noted this appeal in which she claims the circuit court erred because Section 2-401 of the Family Law Article invalidates marriages obtained without a license.

Held: Judgment affirmed. Following Feehley v. Feehley, 129 Md. 565 (1916), the Court held that the parties’ failure to obtain a marriage license as required by Section 2-401 of the Family Law Article did not nullify the parties’ marriage where they executed a “Marriage Agreement” evidencing their intent to be married and participated in a marriage ceremony officiated by their priest. Accordingly, wife’s deed purportedly transferring her interest in tenants by the entireties property was void and her interest in the property transferred to husband by operation of law on her death. Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County Case No. C-02-CV-17-002448 REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 2843 September Term, 2018 VICTORIA REGINA TRAPASSO v. ELLIOT N. LEWIS, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF THOMAS EDWIN KRAMER *Meredith, Kehoe, Beachley, JJ.

Opinion by Beachley, J. Filed: September 29, 2020 *Meredith, J., now retired, participated in the hearing and conference of this case while an active member of the Court. He participated in Pursuant to Maryland Uniform Electronic Legal Materials Act (§§ 10-1601 et seq. of the State Government Article) this document is authentic. the adoption of this opinion after being recalled 2020-09-29 15:07-04:00 pursuant to Maryland Constitution, Article IV, Section 3A. Suzanne C. Johnson, Clerk In 2003, Waltraud Regina and Thomas Kramer1 were purportedly married by a religious marriage ceremony, though they never obtained a marriage license. The couple subsequently purchased a condominium unit as tenants by the entireties.

In 2015, Regina executed a deed conveying her interest in the property to the Waltraud Regina Living Trust. After Regina’s death in 2016, appellant Victoria Trapasso, as Substitute Trustee of the Trust, filed a petition to quiet title to the property, essentially requesting a declaration that the Trust owned fifty percent of the property because Regina and Kramer were never validly married. The Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County determined that Regina and Kramer were validly married and, accordingly, that Kramer was the sole owner of the property by virtue of the tenants by the entireties deeds.2 Trapasso timely appealed and presents the following question: Were [Kramer] and [Regina] legally married, so that Waltraud Regina lacked the legal capacity to convey her interest in the real property at issue? Applying long-standing Maryland precedent, we conclude that Regina and Kramer were validly married and shall therefore affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On September 28, 2003, Waltraud Regina and Thomas Kramer signed a “Marriage 1 Kramer died on June 21, 2020. The personal representative of his estate was substituted as appellee on July 31, 2020. 2 By two separate deeds, Regina and Kramer acquired, as tenants by the entireties, a condominium unit in the Wintergreen Condominium Association as well as “L.C.E. Garage Space 306” and “G.C.E. Storage Unit 2.” We shall simply refer to both conveyances as the “property” or the “condominium.” Agreement” and participated in a religious wedding ceremony. Their failure to obtain a marriage license is at the center of this appeal. We reprint the Marriage Agreement the parties executed on September 28, 2003: IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD and of the hereinafter named witnesses, I, Thomas E. Kramer, do take Waltraud Regina to be my lawful wedded wife, and I do promise to love, honor and obey, to support her, be always faithful, cherish, hold and care for her in sickness and in health until death we do part.

And, IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD and of the hereinafter named witnesses, I, Waltraud Regina, do take Thomas E. Kramer to be my lawful wedded husband, and I do promise to love, honor and obey, to support him, be always faithful, cherish, hold and care for him in sickness and in health until death we do part. I, Thomas E. Kramer, do recognize and hold these aforementioned marriage vows to be binding on me in the same way any civil marriage license and civil or religious church ceremony would be. I do also recognize and concede that Waltraud Regina has the same rights as if we were bound as Husband and Wife by a civil marriage license and civil or religious church ceremony. And, I, Waltraud Regina, do recognize and hold these aforementioned marriage vows to be binding on me in the same way any civil marriage license and civil or religious church ceremony would be.

I do also recognize and concede that Thomas E. Kramer has the same rights as if we were bound as Husband and Wife by a civil marriage license and civil or religious church ceremony. BY THE SIGNING OF THIS MARRIAGE AGREEMENT, and the taking and holding of the aforewritten Vows, we the undersigned Bride and Groom, in the presence of Almighty GOD and of the undersigned Witnesses, do declare ourselves to be Husband and Wife. Four attesting witnesses signed the Marriage Agreement. The Reverend Robert S. Louiselle, Sr., of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Annapolis officiated the marriage 2 ceremony and signed a “Certification” that Regina and Kramer “were joined together in the Holy State of Matrimony” on September 28, 2003, in Crownsville, Maryland.

The couple subsequently purchased as tenants by the entireties a condominium unit known as 8612 Wintergreen Court, Unit 306, Odenton, Maryland. On March 4, 2015, Regina executed a deed conveying her interest in the property to the Waltraud Regina Living Trust. Regina established the Trust in 1998, before meeting Kramer. The Trust, a revocable trust, designated Regina as its initial trustee.

An amendment to the Trust in 2014 named Trapasso, Regina’s daughter from a prior marriage, as the first successor Trustee upon Regina’s death or incapacity. Regina also executed a Last Will and Testament in 2014, designating Trapasso as personal representative and bequeathing all of Regina’s “probate estate” to the Trust. Kramer is not mentioned in either the Trust instrument or the Will. Regina died on June 18, 2016, and was buried with her first husband.

On August 10, 2016, Kramer executed a “Confirmatory Deed” in which he recited that Regina “purportedly conveyed her interest in derogation of her interest in the property as a tenant by the entirety.” The Confirmatory Deed further recited that as a result of Regina’s death, Kramer was vested with sole title to the property as the surviving tenant by the entirety. Trapasso, as Substitute Trustee, filed a Petition to Quiet Title, and for Sale in Lieu of Partition of Real Property, and an Order to Discharge Proceeds, seeking a declaration that the Trust owned fifty percent of the property. Kramer filed an Answer to the Petition, 3 disputing the validity of the March 4, 2015 deed conveying Regina’s interest in the property to the Trust. A bench trial took place on September 21, 2018.

No live testimony was presented; the parties agreed to submit their cases based on proffers and extensive documentary evidence, all of which was admitted without objection. The court received the deposition testimony of Reverend Louiselle, an ordained priest of the Anglican Church. Reverend Louiselle verified that he presided over the September 28, 2003 marriage ceremony in accordance with the precepts of the Church. He noted that he had known the couple for approximately seven years before they approached him about getting married.

In addition to the deeds at issue, the Trust documents, and Regina’s Last Will and Testament, the parties submitted evidence bearing on whether Regina considered herself to be married to Kramer. That evidence included documents verifying that Regina was receiving Social Security benefits based on her first marriage, and that she maintained accounts with Verizon and AT&T, as well as bank accounts, solely in her name. Regina also represented to the Internal Revenue Service that she was “single.” On the other hand, there was evidence presented that Regina co-signed an auto loan with Kramer and held a joint checking account with him. The circuit court determined that Regina and Kramer were validly married under Maryland law “by virtue of their religious wedding held on September 28, 2003.” In doing so, the court found that the Marriage Agreement and related documents “included almost every component of what one might utilize in their preparation of a marriage.” Accordingly, the court declared invalid Regina’s deed conveying her interest in the 4 property to the Trust, and concluded that Kramer became the sole owner of the property upon Regina’s death.3 The court entered its Order on October 25, 2018, from which Trapasso, in her capacity as Substitute Trustee, timely appeals.

DISCUSSION We are asked to answer a straightforward question: Were Regina and Kramer validly married under Maryland law despite having never obtained a marriage license as required by Section 2-401 of the Family Law Article? Because Maryland precedent requires us to answer “Yes” to that question, we hold that Regina’s deed purporting to convey her interest in the property to the Trust was a nullity. We begin with some basic principles of real property law. A tenancy by the entireties may only be held by a married couple.

Young v. Young, 37 Md. App. 211, 216 (1977). If the marriage is dissolved through divorce or annulment, or is otherwise invalid, the parties would instead hold the property as tenants in common or joint tenants. E.g., Columbian Carbon Co. v. Kight, 207 Md. 203, 210 (1955); Young, 37 Md. App. at 216 . In a tenancy by the entireties, one spouse generally may not act alone to convey an interest in the property; the other spouse must assent to the conveyance.

Bruce v. Dyer, 309 Md. 421, 428 (1987); see also Maryland Code (1974, 2015 Repl. Vol.), § 4-108(b) of the Real Property Article (“RP”). This is in contrast to tenancies in common and joint tenancies, which allow a single tenant to convey his or her interest in the property without permission 3 The court also declared that Regina’s March 4, 2015 deed to the Trust and Kramer’s Confirmatory Deed dated August 10, 2016, “shall be stricken as they are of no force or effect.” 5 from the other tenant. RP § 4-108(a); see Helinski v. Harford Mem.

Hosp., Inc., 376 Md. 606, 616 (2003) (joint tenancy may be severed through conveyance by one of the joint tenants). Thus, if Regina and Kramer were married, Regina’s March 4, 2015 deed conveying her share of the property to the Trust without Kramer’s assent was invalid. Trapasso argues that Regina and Kramer were not validly married because Family Law Article §§ 2-401(a) and 2-406(e) require parties to obtain a marriage license