Primerica Life Insurance Company v. Ramirez

1 WO 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Primerica Life Insurance Company, No. CV-22-00888-PHX-JJT 10 Plaintiff, ORDER v. Claudia Odette Ramirez, et al., 13 Defendants.

15 At issue is Plaintiff Primerica Life Insurance Company’s Motion for Interpleader Deposit (28 U.S.C. § 1335) and to Dismiss (Doc. 17).

17 In the Complaint (Doc. 1, Compl.), Plaintiff alleges that it holds $450,000 in life insurance proceeds arising from the death of Jose Leonardo Ramirez Mejia, which are claimed by Defendant Alma Alcantar, on the one hand, and Defendants Claudia Odette Ramirez, Emerita Ramirez, and Donato Ramirez, on the other hand. According to the Complaint, all these Defendants are citizens of Arizona. (Compl. ¶¶ 3-6.)

22 The interpleader statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1335, states that district courts have original jurisdiction over actions filed by a plaintiff that possesses money or property worth $500 or more to which two or more adverse claimants of diverse citizenship contend they are entitled, if the plaintiff has provided the money or property, or given an equivalent bond, to the court. The Supreme Court has held that the statute requires “only ‘minimal diversity,’ that is, diversity of citizenship between two or more claimants, without regard to the circumstance that other rival claimants may be co-citizens.” State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Tashire, 386 U.S. 523, 530 (1967). Here, however, no diversity of citizenship among 2|| claimants exists because they are all citizens of Arizona. Therefore, the Court has no || jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1335 and must dismiss this matter. See Valdez v. Allstate Ins. Co., 372 F.3d 1115, 1116 (th Cir. 2004); Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3).

5 IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED denying Plaintiff Primerica Life Insurance || Company’s Motion for Interpleader Deposit (28 U.S.C. § 1335) and to Dismiss (Doc. 17).

7 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED vacating the Scheduling Conference set for || September 1, 2022 (Doc. 15) and all other deadlines in this matter.

9 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED directing the Clerk of Court to enter judgment || dismissing this matter for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and close this case.

11 Dated this 9th day of August, 2022. CN 12 “wok: 13 wefflee— Unifgd State#District Judge _2-