O'Neil v. Kistler CA4/1

Filed 5/30/23 O’Neil v. Kistler CA4/1

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

IDA O’NEIL, D079932

Plaintiff and Appellant,

v. (Super. Ct. No. D148731)

DEBORAH KISTLER, as Successor in Interest, etc.,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL from order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Jose S. Castillo, Judge. Affirmed. Ida O’Neil, in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Appellant. Robert Burns for Defendant and Respondent.

Donn and Ida O’Neil divorced in 1980.1 Almost 20 years later, Ida filed a request for order seeking sanctions, enforcement of judgment, and payment of certain alleged arrears. After an evidentiary hearing, the court, per an order dated November 1, 2021, denied Ida’s requested relief. Kevin O’Neil,

1 To avoid confusion, we refer to Donn and Ida by their first names.

the couple’s son, appeals the postjudgment order on Ida’s behalf as her guardian ad litem.2 We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In September 1980, the family court entered an order formalizing the dissolution of marriage between Ida and Donn. As part of that dissolution, the court ordered that Donn “will further cooperate and use his best efforts to assist [Ida] in obtaining survivorship pension benefits at no cost to [him].” A year later, Donn remarried. In 1983, Ida contacted the United States Marine Corps (USMC). In response, the USMC informed Ida, by letter, that the current beneficiary of Donn’s survivor benefit plan (SBP) was his “current spouse” (Barbara) and Donn “did not elect former spouses[ ] coverage and such an election is necessary.” Additionally, the USMC explained that a court order is not sufficient to make a coverage election. Instead, an election can only be made by a member. Subsequently, Donn signed a letter, dated August 28, 1984, advising the USMC he would like to elect Ida as the beneficiary of his SBP. The following day, Donn formalized that election by signing form 1883, also known as a “Survivor Benefit Plan Election Certificate.” A couple days later, in a letter dated August 31, 1984, Ida wrote to the USMC, stating in relevant part: “Pursuant to court order of August 28, 1984 where [the court] ordered [Donn] to sign the attached Survivor Benefit Plan Election Certificate in accordance with an Interlocutory Judgment, I am forwarding the form