- Amount
- $112,000 (annuity death benefit deposited with the court)
- Counsel
- Interpleader Law
- Result for
- The named primary beneficiary, our client
- Case
- Midland National Life Insurance Co. v. Foley
- Court
- U.S. District Court, District of Nevada
- Docket
- No. 2:25-cv-00326-CDS-DJA
- Decided
- March 10, 2026
- Issue
- Whether a named beneficiary takes an interpleaded annuity death benefit when the competing claimant does not defend
A 2022 annuity contract with a death benefit named our client as its primary beneficiary. After the annuitant died, the executor of his estate wrote to the insurer contesting payment to our client and submitting a claim of his own. Faced with competing claims, the insurer filed an interpleader, deposited the death benefit with the court in October 2025, and was then dismissed by stipulation.
We represented the named beneficiary. The executor was served but never answered or otherwise defended the case. After the clerk entered his default, we moved for default judgment. The court weighed the Ninth Circuit’s Eitel factors, found that almost all of them favored judgment, and held that, as a result of the default, our client was entitled to the disputed funds. A month later the court entered final judgment and ordered the full deposit, with interest, paid to our client.
What it shows. Objecting to a payment in a letter to the insurer is not the same as defending a claim in court. When a competing claimant does not answer an interpleader, the named beneficiary can obtain the fund through default judgment.
Read the court's order
- Order granting default judgment (Feb. 13, 2026) (PDF)
- Final judgment and order of interpleader disbursement (Mar. 10, 2026) (PDF)
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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