- Amount
- $75,000 (ERISA group life benefit awarded to our client, plus interest)
- Counsel
- Interpleader Law
- Result for
- The insured's son, our client
- Case
- Jones v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America
- Court
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin
- Docket
- No. 3:24-cv-00214-wmc
- Decided
- April 16, 2025
- Issue
- Whether a roommate met an ERISA group policy's definition of domestic partner when no beneficiary was named
The insured had group life insurance through her employer, a plan governed by ERISA, and she never named a beneficiary. In that case the policy pays a surviving spouse or domestic partner first and the insured’s children next. Her son claimed the benefit, but a man she had lived with also claimed it as her domestic partner, and the insurer did not pay. We sued the insurer on the son’s behalf. The insurer responded by filing an interpleader against both claimants, deposited the $75,000 benefit with the court and was dismissed.
We then moved for summary judgment with sworn statements from people who knew the insured. The court reviewed the evidence and found that the two had been roommates for financial reasons rather than partners in a relationship similar to marriage, so the other claimant did not meet the policy’s definition. The court entered judgment for our client for the full benefit plus interest.
What it shows. A policy definition controls who counts as a domestic partner, and evidence about how two people actually lived can decide the claim.
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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