Matschiner v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., No. 09-3576

ERISA's Impact on Death Benefit

In Matschiner v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., No. 09-3576, an action to recover a death benefit paid to an individual defendant by defendant-insurer, the court reversed summary judgment for plaintiff where defendant paid the death benefit in accordance with the plan documents and therefore complied with ERISA as construed in Kennedy.

As the court wrote:  "In 1991, RoJane Lewis obtained life insurance under a group policy issued by Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company to her employer, Inacom Corporation. She submitted a beneficiary designation form granting sixty percent of the death benefit to her husband, Alan Lewis, and twenty percent to each of her daughters, Katherine and Kristina Matschiner."

Related Resources

• Read the Eighth Circuit's Decision in Matschiner v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., No. 09-3576