- Amount
- $202,000 (annuity death benefit awarded to our client, plus interest)
- Counsel
- Interpleader Law
- Result for
- The insured's surviving husband, our client
- Case
- Athene Annuity and Life Co. v. Hernandez
- Court
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas
- Docket
- No. 6:25-cv-00094-LS
- Decided
- November 3, 2025
- Issue
- Competing claims to an annuity death benefit after the insured's death
The insured and her husband bought an annuity together. After she died, the insurer questioned whether the husband was entitled to the death benefit, and it filed an interpleader naming him and three other potential claimants. The husband answered and asserted his claim, including at a minimum a community property interest in the funds.
We represented the husband. The other claimants never appeared, and the clerk entered their defaults. On our motion, the court entered a default judgment that they take nothing from the annuity proceeds. The insurer then deposited the benefit and was dismissed, and the court ordered the full amount, with interest, paid to our client.
What it shows. A claimant who does not answer an interpleader can lose any share of the fund, and a party who appears and presses the claim can collect it in full.
Read the court's order
For a detailed legal summary of this decision, see interpleader.com's decisions library.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This summary describes the court's ruling; it is not legal advice about any other case.
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