UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Unum Life Insurance Company of America

v. Case No. 20-cv-619-SM Opinion No.

LuAnn Allard and Tiffany Allard

O R D E R

Unum Life Insurance Company (“Unum”) brought this

interpleader action under the Employee Retirement Income

Security Act [“ERISA”], asking the court to determine which

claimant, LuAnn Allard or Tiffany Allard, was entitled to life

insurance benefits following the death of the plan beneficiary,

Steven Allard. Neither LuAnn nor Tiffany Allard filed an

appearance in the case, and default was entered against both of

them. Doc. no. 13. Unum deposited the insurance benefits

payable under the policy into the court’s registry

(approximately $40,000) and was released from any further

obligations under its insurance contract. 1

Almost two years later, LuAnn Allard filed a motion asking

for release of the insurance benefits to her. Doc. no. 18. In

response, the court lifted the default entered against LuAnn

1 Unum was allowed to deposit the funds into the court registry, but no default judgment was entered at that time. The court also denied Unum’s request for an award of costs and fees in this action. Doc. no. 16. Allard and directed Tiffany Allard to contact the court to

pursue her own claim to the benefits. In response, Tiffany

Allard filed a motion to determine the beneficiary of the life

insurance benefits. Doc. no. 22. The court referred the case to

the Magistrate Judge for mediation.

Mediation was unsuccessful because LuAnn Allard failed to

respond to the court’s notice and additional efforts to contact

her. The motions remain pending.

Background

In the complaint, Unum alleges that Steven Allard, the

decedent, had basic life insurance coverage under a group

insurance policy provided to New England Carpenters Health

Benefits Fund [“Group Policy”] by Unum. Unum further alleges

that the Group Policy provides benefits under an ERISA plan.

Steven was married to LuAnn Allard when he obtained coverage

under the Group Policy in 1998 and named LuAnn as his sole

beneficiary. Doc. no. 21-2, at 2.

Steven and LuAnn Allard were divorced in 2016. As part of

the “Final Orders on Property, Debt Division and Support,”

Steven and LuAnn were each “awarded any life insurance policies

in his or her own name, free and clear of any interest of the

other.” Doc. no. 20-1, at 7. Thereafter, Steven married

Tiffany. Steven died on January 19, 2020. Tiffany Allard was

2 his spouse at the time of his death. Steven did not complete a

beneficiary change form after the divorce to remove LuAnn as the

beneficiary, nor did he complete a beneficiary change form after

his marriage to Tiffany.

Both LuAnn Allard and Tiffany Allard filed claims with Unum

for Steven’s life insurance benefits under the Group Policy.

When the complaint was filed, the amount of the death benefits

was approximately $40,000.00, and Unum deposited $40,035.75 in

the court’s registry.

LuAnn’s Motion

On August 3, 2022, LuAnn filed a form motion in which she

states that she is requesting allocation of the life insurance

benefits to her because she is the named beneficiary of record.

Her return address was given as 977 Daniel Webster Highway in

Woodstock, New Hampshire, and that is the only address the court

has for LuAnn. That filing is the only contact LuAnn has had

with the court in this case.

Tiffany’s Motion

Tiffany filed a motion to determine the beneficiary on

December 31, 2022. Tiffany states in her motion that she and

Steven went to the Carpenters Union Benefits Fund Office in June

of 2016 to change the beneficiary status on his benefits plans.

Doc. no. 22, at 1. They thought that the documents they signed

included the life insurance. Tiffany further states that

3 previously, after Steven and LuAnn were separated in 2011,

Steven intended to change the life insurance beneficiaries from

LuAnn to his children and signed a document for that purpose.

Steven, however, never submitted the signed document. Steven

and LuAnn’s children lived with Tiffany and Steven beginning in

January of 2018, and, after Steven’s death, Tiffany was awarded

physical custody of the children but shared guardianship with

LuAnn.

When notified of the life insurance benefits, Tiffany

proposed to LuAnn that they share the benefits so that LuAnn

could find housing and Tiffany could use the money to care for

the children, particularly because LuAnn had not complied with

her court-ordered child support payments. LuAnn reportedly told

Tiffany that she could have the insurance benefits but had no

further communication with Tiffany on the matter. The children

have now reached the age of majority, eighteen, and are in trade

school after high school.

Discussion

Unum notes that LuAnn has a claim to the benefits because

she is designated as the beneficiary in the plan documents, and

that Tiffany has a claim because the divorce decree included the

provision quoted above. In her motion for allocation of funds,

LuAnn seeks the life insurance benefits because she is the named

4 beneficiary. In her motion, Tiffany seeks the life insurance

benefits as Steven’s spouse at the time of his death.

A. Beneficiary Designation

Unum brought this case under ERISA, asserting without

contradiction, that the Unum group policy is part of an ERISA-

qualified plan. Doc. no. 1. The Supreme Court addressed a

similar issue in Kennedy v. Plan Adm’r for DuPont Sav. & Inv.

Plan,

(2009), which required a determination of

benefits entitlement between a decedent’s ex-wife, who was the

named beneficiary in an ERISA plan but had relinquished her

right to her ex-husband’s pension benefit in the divorce decree,

and his estate. The Court first considered and rejected

application of the anti-alienation provision in ERISA,

(d). Id. at 292-99. The Court then held that under ERISA

the distribution decision depended on the directives provided in

the pension plan documents and records, not on the meaning of

extrinsic documents, expressions of intent contrary to the plan

documents, or the effects of state law or federal common law.

Id. at 300-01.

The Court focused on the need for clarity and simplicity in

ERISA determinations to ensure that the payment of benefits is

expedited, and to minimize administrative and litigation burdens

on plan administrators. Id. The process followed in Kennedy--

5 looking exclusively to plan documents to determine benefits

eligibility--is known as “the plan documents rule.” Id. at 303;

Ellis v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston,

(10th Cir. 2020); Boyd v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co.,

(4th Cir. 2011). Although Kennedy involved

distribution of funds under an ERISA pension benefit plan, the

plan documents rule applies with equal authority when

determining a beneficiary under an ERISA welfare benefits plan,

such as the life insurance policy at issue here. See Estate of

Kensinger v. URL Pharma, Inc.,

(3d Cir. 2012);

Matschiner v. Hartford Life Ins. Co.,

, 888–89 (8th

Cir. 2010); Ford v. Freemen,

(N.D. Tex.

2019); Martens v. Hogan, No. CV 17-5169 (DWF/DTS),

, at *2 (D. Minn. Apr. 18, 2018); Est. of Lutz v. Lutz,

No. CV 16-01461,

, at *5 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 23, 2017).

In this case, the plan documents identify LuAnn Allard as

the named beneficiary of Steven Allard’s life insurance under

the Group Plan. The Group Plan states that the life insurance

plan “provides financial protection for your beneficiary(ies) by

paying a benefit in the event of your death.” Doc. no. 21-1, at

3. Although the Group Plan provides a means for changing the

beneficiary, Steven Allard did not do so. Doc. 21-1, at 10.

Under the plan documents rule, the court does not consider what,

if any, effect the provision in the Allards’ divorce decree,

6 pertaining to their rights to insurance policies, would have on

the beneficiary designation. Therefore, ordinarily, the

benefits would be awarded to LuAnn by simple application of a

straightforward rule.

B. Disqualifying Circumstances in this Case

In this case, however, there is an additional wrinkle.

LuAnn was initially in default for two years until the court

deemed her filing in August of 2022 to be grounds to lift the

default. After filing her motion, however, LuAnn again

abandoned any participation in this action. She filed no

response to Tiffany’s motion, which was filed at the end of

December of 2022. The notice of mediation and notice that the

court needed contact information was mailed to LuAnn at her

address in Woodstock, New Hampshire, on January 11, 2023, but

was returned as not deliverable. Tiffany attended the

scheduling conference on February 1, 2023, but LuAnn did not

attend, nor did she contact the court. The court then ordered

LuAnn to notify the court of her current address and whether she

intended to participate in mediation on February 3, 2023. That

mail was also returned as undeliverable. LuAnn has not

contacted the court with a new address or any other contact

information since that time.

7 Currently the court is utterly unable to communicate with

or contact LuAnn. The address LuAnn gave the court is not

effective. She has provided no updated address or made any

effort to contact the court, despite a court order that she do

so. See also LR 83.6(e) (requiring parties to “immediately

notify the clerk’s office in writing of any change of address

and telephone number”).

C. Failure to Prosecute

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), if a party

seeking action from the court “fails to prosecute or to comply

with these rules or a court order,” an opposing party may move

to dismiss the action. In addition, the court has authority as

part of its inherent power to manage its own docket to dismiss a

claim for the reasons provided in Rule 41(b), including lack of

diligent prosecution. Cintrol-Lorenzo v. Departamento de

Asuntos del Consumidor,

(1st Cir. 2002); Relf

v. Pender,

, at *5 (D. Mass. Jan. 20, 2023).

LuAnn ceased all prosecution of her claim in this case

notwithstanding the court’s efforts to assist her. For that

reason, LuAnn’s claim to the benefits under Steven’s life

insurance policy in this interpleader action is dismissed for

failure to prosecute, failure to provide a current address and

contact information, and failure to comply with the court’s

8 order and Local Rule 83.6(e). See Theriault v. Gillen,

, at *1 (D. Me. Oct. 24, 2022) (citing United States v.

Guerrero,

(10th Cir. 2008); Lewis v.

Hardy,

(5th Cir. 2007) (per curiam);

Carvel v. Durst,

, at *1 n.5 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 25,

2014); Am. Arbitration Ass'n, Inc. v. Defonseca,

,

at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 6, 1997) (“[A] litigant's obligation to

promptly inform the Court and the opposing party of an address

change is a matter of common sense, not legal sophistication.”).

D. Provisions in the Plan

The plan terms provide as follows:

It is important that you name a beneficiary and keep your designation current. If more than one beneficiary is named and you do not designate their order or share of payments, the beneficiaries will share equally. The share of a beneficiary who dies before you, or the share of a beneficiary who is disqualified, will pass to any surviving beneficiaries in the order you designated.

If you do not name a beneficiary, or if all named beneficiaries do not survive you, or if your named beneficiary is disqualified, your death benefit will be paid to your estate.

Instead of making a death payment to your estate, Unum has the right to make payment to the first surviving family members of the family members in the order listed below: - spouse; - child or children; - mother or father; or - sisters or brothers.

9 Doc. no. 21-1, at 10. Although this is an ERISA case, UNUM did

not make any administrative decision before filing its

interpleader complaint, depositing the funds, and being relieved

of its obligations. The parties have not disputed UNUM’s

decision to seek resolution by the court rather than the plan

administrator, which forfeits any objection to the process.

Forcier v. Metropolitan Life Inc. Co.,

(1st

Cir. 2006).

LuAnn Allard is “disqualified” from obtaining the benefits

because her claim has been abandoned and dismissed for failure

to prosecute. In this circumstance, the court, standing in the

shoes of Unum as plan administrator, may award the benefit to

Steven’s estate. Alternatively, the court may make the payment

to Steven’s spouse, Tiffany Allard. Based on the circumstances

and record presented here, that is the appropriate outcome in

this case.

Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, LuAnn Allard’s motion for

allocation of funds (document no. 18) is denied. Tiffany

Allard’s motion to determine the beneficiary (document no. 22)

is granted. Tiffany Allard is the beneficiary of the life

insurance benefits provided by the Group Policy issued to Steven

10 Allard, decedent, that were deposited in the court registry by

Unum.

The clerk of court shall pay the amount deposited by Unum,

along with any accrued interest, to Tiffany Allard, after the

expiration of the time allowed by the applicable rules of civil

procedure for the parties to file direct appeals from this

order.

The clerk of court shall enter judgment accordingly, with

prejudice, and close the case.

SO ORDERED.

______________________________ Steven J. McAuliffe United States District Judge

March 28, 2023

cc: Byrne J. Decker, Esq. LuAnn Allard, pro se Tiffany Allard, pro se

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