Jackman Financial Corp v. Plaintiff-Appellant

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ARGUED MARCH 29, 2011

Before ROVNER, WILLIAMS, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

When Kunta Torrence was killed in a car accident, he held a life insurance policy through his employer that named his brother as the sole beneficiary. His brother was also in the same car and died at the same time as Torrence. A “facility-of-payment” clause in Torrence’s group life insurance plan allowed the insurer, if the named beneficiary was not living, to choose a substitute beneficiary from among a list of relatives and the deceased’s estate. The insurer did so, choosing to pay Torrence’s children. Long before the insurer had done so, however, the future administrator of Torrence’s estate (his mother) separately executed an assignment of the same life insurance proceeds to a financing company that had funded Torrence’s funeral. The assignee, plaintiff Jackman Financial Corporation, brought this ERISA case against the insurer to recover the proceeds from the life insurance policy. The district court granted summary judgment to the insurer, defendant Humana Insurance Company, concluding that the insurer properly exercised its right under the policy by selecting a substitute beneficiary under the facility-of-payment clause. We agree with that reasoning and affirm.

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