Download Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem in Insurance Dispute for Minor Defendants and more Slides Civil Law in PDF only on Docsity!
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
AT CHATTANOOGA
GERBER LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, )
Plaintiff, ) ) No. 1:11-cv- v. ) ) Mattice / Lee SAMANTHA WALLACE, et al. , ) ) Defendants. )
ORDER APPOINTING GUARDIAN AD LITEM
Before the Court is a motion of Plaintiff Gerber Life Insurance Company (“Gerber”) for the
appointment of a guardian ad litem in this action to represent in the interests of two minor
defendants, C.G. and C.N. [Doc. 3]. A hearing on the motion was held on June 2, 2011.^1
On February 10, 2011, Gerber filed a petition for interpleader on the issue of three life
insurance policies for a minor child C.W., daughter of Samantha and Thomas Wallace [Doc. 1]. In
this petition, Gerber named 11 Defendants, including Samantha and Thomas Wallace, C.W.’s
parents; C.G. and C.N., C.W.’s minor half-brother and half-sister, respectively; Bobby Nolan, Teresa
Nolan, Sandi Wallace, the estate of Dena McNabb, Randy Basham, and Larry Johnson, all
grandparents of C.W.; and Whitwell Memorial Funeral Home, which has since been dismissed [Doc.
1, 31].
(^1) At the hearing, Defendant Samantha Wallace and Plaintiff Gerber Life Insurance Company
were represented by counsel. Defendant Mattea L. Rolin, administrator for the estate of Dena McNabb, filed a written response stating no objection to the motion and was excused from the hearing. No other parties appeared, despite notice of the hearing.
Case 1:11-cv-00031-HSM-SKL Document 34 Filed 06/07/11 Page 1 of 4 PageID #:
According to the petition for interpleader, Samantha Wallace purchased three life insurance
policies for C.W.—two $15,000 policies, one in April and one in November of 2008, and a $5,
policy also in November of 2008 (“the Policies”). The Policies list Samantha and Thomas Wallace
as co-beneficiaries. On July 12, 2010, C.W.’s half-brother, C.G., shot and killed C.W. after C.W.’s
mother, Samantha Wallace, put the children in a bedroom for a nap. Samantha and Thomas Wallace
were charged with negligent homicide in connection with C.W.’s death. According to Samantha
Wallace’s attorney, this charge is still pending and not yet set for trial.
Gerber alleges that the facts of this case make it difficult to determine who is entitled to the
proceeds of the Policies. First, the negligent homicide charge against Samantha and Thomas
Wallace raises the question of the applicability in this case of Tennessee’s “Slayer Statute,” which
reads:
Any person who shall kill, or conspire with another to kill, or procure to be killed, any other person from whom the first named person would inherit the property, either real or personal, or any part of the property, belonging to the deceased person at the time of the deceased person’s death, or who would take the property, or any part of the property by will, deed, or otherwise, at the death of the deceased, shall forfeit all right in the property, and the property shall go as it would have gone under provisions of § 31-2-104, or by will, deed or other conveyance, as the case may be; provided, that this section shall not apply to any such killing done by accident or in self defense (Tenn. Code Ann. § 31-1-106).
If this statutory provision is not applicable in this case, the named beneficiaries would presumably
receive the proceeds of the Policies. If, on the other hand, the statute applies and the named
beneficiaries “forfeit” their interest, then the parties appear to agree that the proceeds of the Policies
would pass under Tennessee’s intestacy statute. In that case, a second issue may arise—namely,
whether C.G. and C.N., as half-siblings, qualify as “brothers and sisters.” See Tenn. Code Ann. §
Case 1:11-cv-00031-HSM-SKL Document 34 Filed 06/07/11 Page 2 of 4 PageID #:
The Clerk is hereby DIRECTED to add attorney Cammon’s name as guardian ad litem in
this matter for the minor Defendants C.G. and C.N. The Clerk is further DIRECTED to serve a
copy of this Order on attorney Cammon, on all counsel of record, and all unrepresented parties.
SO ORDERED.
ENTER:
s/fâátÇ ^A _xx
SUSAN K. LEE
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Case 1:11-cv-00031-HSM-SKL Document 34 Filed 06/07/11 Page 4 of 4 PageID #:
