SAN FRANCISCO – A Houston insurance company seeks the court's help in determining the beneficiary for a policy.
American General Life Insurance Co. filed a complaint for interpleader relief on March 21 in the U.S. District Court Northern District of California against Antonio Burrell and Lesia Habte.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges Fulton Harris applied for an accidental death and dismemberment policy with it for $500,000 worth of coverage in September 2014. The suit states he died in December 2014 of multiple gunshot wounds and that Burrell, his nephew, sought the benefits in January 2015 as he was named the beneficiary. However, the suit states that Burrell is a suspect in Harris' death. The plaintiff alleges that under the policy terms, a named beneficiary is not entitled to the benefits if the principal was feloniously and intentionally killed.
Habte is Harris' daughter, according to the suit.
The plaintiff seeks the following: enjoinment from the defendants' instituting against plaintiff for the benefit claim, that the court determine and declare the rights of the defendants to the benefits, and for the court to discharge the plaintiff from all liability under the policy, and any other relief as the court deems just and proper. It is represented by Michael K. Brisbin and Lisa Silva Passalacqua of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP in San Francisco.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case number 3:16-cv-01375