The DRI Life, Health, and Disability Committee is once again sponsoring a program aimed at providing a basic understanding of the concepts applicable to life, health, and disability litigation. The program, which receives...more
The phenomenon of void ab initio life insurance policies has “spawned a host of thorny questions regarding the appropriate remedial response to the identification of a policy as STOLI.” The Supreme Court of Delaware...more
Two Recent Decisions Throw Cold Water on Investors’ Ability to Get Their Premiums Back on Policies Deemed Void Ab Initio - In the latter half of 2022, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Delaware Supreme Court—two...more
On October 25, 2022, the Supreme Court of Georgia answered a certified question from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals concerning Georgia’s insurable interest statute, OCGA § 33-24-3 (1995)....more
STOLI - We reported in detail on developments in the case law and legislation addressing stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI) policies in past issues of Expect Focus – Life, Annuity, and Retirement Solutions. ...more
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, D.C. Docket No. 1:17-cv-03857-WMR. On February 4, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit certified two...more
We previously reported in detail on developments in the case law and legislation addressing stranger- originated life insurance (STOLI) policies. See “New Jersey Springs Into Action: New Bill to Ban STOLI Policies” and “New...more
This alert covers the current law on stranger-originated life insurance (“STOLI”) policies in 14 different states and includes updates concerning the following developments: • A 2020 decision applying New York law which...more
We have previously reported on New Jersey’s effort to enact legislation prohibiting stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI) and the New Jersey case law leading up to that legislation. See June 2019, December 2019, and...more
Earlier this year, we reported on the New Jersey Assembly’s unanimous (78-0) vote approving Assembly Bill 1263, supplementing New Jersey’s Viatical Settlements Act, N.J.S.A. 17B-30B-1, et seq., and outlawing...more
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York recently issued a decision denying class certification to sub-classes in a cost of insurance (“COI”) class action based upon the insurer’s defense that...more
On August 13, 2020, in the putative class action challenging AXA’s COI rate increase on Athena Universal Life II (“AUL II”) policies, Judge Jesse M. Furman of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New...more
We previously reported in detail on New Jersey’s recent case law addressing the validity of stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI) policies in the June 2019 and December 2019 issues of Expect Focus – Life, Annuity, and...more
As many of you may know, Cozen O’Connor was victorious last year in obtaining a ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Sun Life Assurance Company v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 238 N.J. 157 (2019) (Bergman) that...more
We previously reported on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s ruling on the validity of stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI) policies in the June 2019 issue of Expect Focus — Life, Annuity, and Retirement Solutions....more
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently condemned stranger-originated life insurance (“STOLI”) transactions as void ab initio human life wagers in a case that the life insurance and life settlement industries watched closely....more
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently held stranger-originated life insurance (STOLI) policies void as against public policy. In Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., a $5 million policy was taken out on...more
On June 4, 2019, in a case captioned Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., the Supreme Court of New Jersey answered two questions certified to it by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third...more
On June 4, 2019, in a win for New Jersey residents and life insurance companies with policies underwritten in New Jersey, the Supreme Court of New Jersey took a stand against Stranger-Originated Life Insurance (STOLI)...more
The Eleventh Circuit recently addressed the legal viability of federal racketeering, fraud, and declaratory relief claims by Sun Life against a premium finance company arising out of an alleged STOLI scheme, as well as the...more
In a June 8, ruling in AEI Life v. Lincoln Benefit Life Co., the Second Circuit upheld the District Court for the Eastern District of New York’s application of New York’s two-year incontestability period to a STOLI policy....more
EXPECTFOCUS® is a quarterly review of developments in the insurance and financial services industry, provided on a complimentary basis to clients and friends of Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, P.A. ...more
In Sun Life Assur. Co. of Canada v. U.S. Bank Nat. Ass’n, the Eleventh Circuit recently clarified that where a life insurance policy lacks an insurable interest at its inception and is thus void ab initio, prejudgment...more
Florida has recently adopted amendments to its Viatical Settlement Act. One of the new provisions, Section 626.9911 (9), defines a prohibited stranger-originated life insurance practice as: - (9) “Stranger-originated...more
On March 13, 2017, Judge David Nuffer of the United States District Court for the District of Utah granted defendant Wilmington Trust Company's motion to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to invalidate an alleged "STOLI"...more