Opinion ID: 2559428
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Joan's Loss of Consortium Award

Text: [¶ 20] In addition to the above-stated issues with the Superior Court's judgment, further complications arise from Joan's loss of consortium award. Our law does not attach a workers' compensation lien to the portion of a settlement associated with a loss of consortium claim if that claim was expressly allocated in the settlement agreement. See Nichols v. Cantara & Sons, 659 A.2d 258, 260-61 (Me.1995); Dionne v. Libbey-Owens Ford Co., 621 A.2d 414, 417-18 (Me.1993). In this case, the settlement agreement clearly allocates 20% of the total settlement to Joan. Her award, less attorney fees and costs, totals $120,106.28. Dennis correctly notes that this award is her property and cannot legally be subject to the lien. See Dionne, 621 A.2d at 418. However, Joan was not joined in this action by any of the parties. [¶ 21] Title 14 M.R.S. § 5963 (2009) states that when a declaratory judgment action is brought, all persons shall be made parties who have or claim any interest which would be affected by the declaration and no declaration shall prejudice the rights of persons not parties to the proceeding. See also Efstathiou v. Payeur, 456 A.2d 891, 893 (Me.1983) (noting that joinder of all parties who have an interest in a declaratory judgment action is necessary under M.R. Civ. P. 19 to ensure effective and complete adjudication). In this case, Joan's interest was clearly affected by the declaratory judgment issued. [¶ 22] Although neither the parties nor the court identified this issue, we conclude that the relative rights of the parties should not be determined in Joan's absence. See Ocwen Fed. Bank, FSB v. Gile, 2001 ME 120, ¶ 16, 777 A.2d 275, 281 (Because we may take notice of the absence of a necessary party on our own accord, we need not address whether parties raised the joinder issue themselves.). [¶ 23] Accordingly, we vacate the declaratory judgment and remand this case for further proceedings. We recognize that the Superior Court's task is complicated by the confused posture of this case resulting from the parties' failure to address the lien before the finalization of the structured settlement. Once a final decision of the Board has been obtained, and Joan has been joined as a party, the Superior Court may receive and consider the Board's decision, and, in its discretion, any additional evidence the parties might offer. The court must then decide whether the Trust's proportionate share of attorney fees and costs relative to its future liability relieved can be reasonably determined. If that share can be determined, the court will arrive at a fixed amount for the lien and it must then determine whether the lien can and should be satisfied by existing funds previously received by Dennis and his attorneys, by a pari passu approach, as explained in the concurring opinion, or a combination of the two. If that share cannot be determined, a pari passu approach would be appropriate. [¶ 24] Because we vacate the judgment for the reasons we have expressed, we do not address Dennis's remaining claims of error. The entry is: Judgment vacated and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. JABAR, J., concurring. [¶ 25] I agree with the Court that we must vacate the Superior Court's judgment, but write separately for two reasons. First, because of the certainty involved in calculating the Trust's lien for benefits already paid, I believe we should provide the parties with a final ruling regarding the court's finding on this issue. Second, obtaining a decision in the pending matter before the Workers' Compensation Board will not assist the court in determining the amount of the Trust's future lien. Because of the inherently speculative nature of the Trust's future lien, I believe a different approach is warranted.