Fitzstephens v. United States
Decision Date | 25 November 1960 |
Docket Number | Civ. No. 4396. |
Citation | 189 F. Supp. 919 |
Parties | J. D. FITZSTEPHENS, Administrator of the Estate of Donald H. Bennett, Deceased, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant and Interpleader, v. J. D. FITZSTEPHENS, Administrator of the Estate of Donald H. Bennett, Deceased, et al., Interpleaded Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Wyoming |
Jones & Fillerup, of Cody, Wyo., for plaintiff.
John F. Raper, Jr., U. S. Atty., for Dist. of Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyo., for defendant.
Lewis & Copenhaver, Powell, Wyo., for interpleaded defendant Betty Jean Bushnell, formerly Betty Jean Bennett.
Maurer & Garst, Douglas, Wyo., for interpleaded defendant Laurence G. Peterson, Guardian of Estate of Laurence Howard Bennett and Donna Jean Bennett, minors.
The question for determination in this action is. "Who is entitled to receive the death benefits of a National Service Life Insurance policy, No. V-1307-50-06, in the amount of $10,000.00, which was issued to Donald Hanan Bennett, now deceased?".
The facts are not in dispute and insofar as here pertinent may be summarized chronologically as follows:
On July 31, 1951, the deceased, Donald Hanan Bennett, a resident of Cody, Wyoming, named Betty Jean Bennett, his wife, as principal beneficiary and Lawrence Howard Bennett and Donna Jean Bennett, his son and daughter, as contingent beneficiaries under said policy. At no time subsequent to July 31, 1951, did Bennett re-designate his beneficiaries, unless the property settlement, hereinafter discussed, can be construed as constituting a change of beneficiary.
On October 27, 1958, Betty Jean Bennett and Donald H. Bennett, in contemplation of divorce proceedings, entered into a property settlement, which contains the following material provisions:
Betty Jean Bennett was granted an absolute divorce from Donald H. Bennett on November 25, 1958. The decree recited: "It Is Further Hereby Ordered, Adjudged and Decreed that the settlement agreement executed by the parties on October 27, 1958 annexed hereto be and the same is hereby confirmed and approved".
When Donald Hanan Bennett died on September 12, 1959, the aforementioned National Service Life Insurance policy was in full force and effect. It was at all times his separate and absolute property. I cannot perceive that the property settlement gave the deceased anything in this respect which he did not already have. Following his death conflicting claims for the benefits under said policy were filed; Betty Jean Bennett, his former wife, claims said benefits as the designated beneficiary; and the Administrator of the Estate of Donald Hanan Bennett, deceased, asserts rights thereto by virtue of the above quoted provisions in the property settlement and divorce decree. As a stakeholder in this action, the United States admits that it owes the amount of the policy and asks the Court to determine which of the claimants is entitled to it.
The issue of whether the property settlement effected a change of beneficiary is resolved in the light of 38 U. S.C. § 717, and the departmental regulations promulgated thereunder. The statute provides in part as follows:
The applicable Veterans' Administration regulations Nos. 3446 and 3447 set forth in 38 C.F.R. 8.46, as amended, and 8.47 relate to designations and changes of beneficiary:
The situation then is this: When Bennett died, his former wife was the beneficiary of record. The Veterans' Administration had received no notice of a change of beneficiary. This identical question has been before the courts many times. A collection of the leading cases are: Wissner et al. v. Wissner, 338 U.S. 655, 70 S.Ct. 398, 94 L.Ed. 424; Bradley v. United States, 10 Cir., 143 F.2d 573; Moths v. United States et al., 7 Cir., 179 F.2d 824; Bratcher v. United States, 8 Cir., 205 F.2d 953; O'Brien v. Elder et al., 5 Cir., 250 F.2d 275; Pack v. United States...
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