Arcieri v. New York Life Insurance

63 F. Supp. 3d 159, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168056, 2014 WL 6809199
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedDecember 4, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 14-11907-NMG
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 63 F. Supp. 3d 159 (Arcieri v. New York Life Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arcieri v. New York Life Insurance, 63 F. Supp. 3d 159, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168056, 2014 WL 6809199 (D. Mass. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

GORTON, District Judge.

Plaintiff Karen Arcieri (“Arcieri”) alleges that defendant New York Life Insurance Company (“New York Life”) breached the terms of a life insurance policy by 1) improperly amending the designation of the beneficiaries of the policy without her consent or knowledge and 2) distributing the proceeds in accordance with that amendment.

Pending before the Court is defendant’s motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment. For the reasons that follow, the motion to dismiss will be allowed.

I. Background

New York Life issued two policies insuring the life of the plaintiffs late husband, Vincent A. Arcieri, III. Policy No. 44384504, dated November 11, 1991, provided whole life coverage in the amount of $500,000 and $500,000 of term coverage under an increasing premium term rider (“Policy A”). At the time it issued, plaintiff was the owner and sole beneficiary of Policy A. The New York Life agent assigned to Policy A was Thomas Chevalier (“Chevalier”), who worked for the company between 1991 and 1993.

In January, 1992, New York Life recorded a change in beneficiary such that the plaintiffs beneficial interest in Policy A was reduced to 50% and her father-in-law, Vincent Arcieri Jr. (“father-in-law”), was named the other 50% beneficiary. New York Life requires a Change of Beneficiary form signed by the policy owner in order to change a beneficiary on a policy.

[162]*162Chevalier recalled, during his deposition in a prior lawsuit filed by plaintiff in state court against the executors of the father-in-law’s estate, that the plaintiffs late husband requested the beneficiary change. He did not remember whether it was the plaintiff or her late husband who signed the required form. Chevalier testified, however, that someone must have signed the form because he would not have processed it otherwise. Plaintiff, on the other hand, asserts that the change of beneficiary was effected without her knowledge or consent. New York Life has been unable to locate the relevant paperwork either to rebut or to confirm her assertion.

In October, 1992, plaintiff submitted an application to convert the $500,000 term rider on Policy A into a separate $500,000 whole life policy. The rider was thus converted into Policy No. 44711438 (“Policy B”). Under Policy B, the plaintiffs infant daughter was a 50% beneficiary and the plaintiff and her father-in-law were each 25% beneficiaries.

Upon the death of the plaintiffs late husband in December, 1992, plaintiff and her father-in-law apparently entered into an oral agreement with respect to both policies under which the father-in-law promised to hold $375,000 of the life insurance proceeds (his entire beneficial interest under both policies) for the benefit of plaintiff and her daughter until her daughter’s 18th birthday. Plaintiff alleges that she requested New York Life to disburse the funds in accordance with her agreement with her father-in-law.

Consistent with the recorded beneficiary designation and plaintiffs alleged request, New York Life paid out the full amount due under Policy A in February, 1993 (which included some interest). Plaintiff and her father-in-law each received $252,539. New York Life also paid out proceeds under Policy B, whereby plaintiff and her father-in-law each received- their 25% shares, or $126,590. Although it is unstated, the remainder of the proceeds of Policy B was presumably held in trust for the benefit of plaintiffs daughter. Plaintiff makes no claim with respect to Policy B in this case.

Apparently, plaintiffs daughter had not reached age 18 when the father-in-law died in 2008. He had not yet paid the money he allegedly promised to hold on his granddaughter’s behalf prior to his death. In April, 2009, plaintiff filed suit in Massachusetts Superior Court for Middlesex County against the executors of her father-in-law’s estate,' seeking recovery of $375,000 in life insurance proceeds. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed that action in May, 2012.

II. Procedural history

Arcieri filed her complaint against New York Life in the same Middlesex Superior Court in April, 2014. Defendant timely removed that case to this Court and moved to dismiss it or, in the alternative, for summary judgment in May, 2014. Plaintiff subsequently filed a motion for leave to amend her complaint to join Chevalier as an additional defendant, which would have extinguished this Court’s diversity jurisdiction and necessitated a remand to state court. This Court denied that motion by endorsement in July, 2014.

III. Defendant’s motion to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment

Plaintiff asserts claims against New York Life for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and negligence and for violations of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapters' 175, 176 and 93A. Defendant has moved to dismiss or, in the alternative, for summary judgment in response.

[163]*163A. Legal standard

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(d) provides that if

matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56.

Here, both parties have submitted materials beyond the complaint and its exhibits, such as documents associated with the plaintiffs suit against her father-in-law’s ■estate for breach of contract filed in state court and an affidavit of the plaintiff dated July 21, 2014.

Filing additional materials outside the pleadings does not automatically convert a motion to dismiss into one for summary judgment. Garita Hotel Ltd. P’ship v. Ponce Fed. Bank, F.S.B., 958 F.2d 15, 18 (1st Cir.1992). The decision whether to exclude the materials and determine the motion under the Rule 12(b)(6) standard is within the Court’s discretion. Trans-Spec Truck Serv., Inc. v. Caterpillar Inc., 524 F.3d 315, 321 (1st Cir.2008). In this case, the Court chooses to treat defendant’s motion as a motion to dismiss.

To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Exhibits attached to the complaint are properly considered “part of the pleading for all purposes.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 10(c). In considering the merits of a motion to dismiss, the Court must accept all factual allegations in the complaint as true and draw all reasonable inferences in the plaintiffs favor. Langadinos v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 199 F.3d 68, 69 (1st Cir.2000). Yet “[tjhreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclu-sory statements,” do not suffice to state a cause of action.

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Bluebook (online)
63 F. Supp. 3d 159, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168056, 2014 WL 6809199, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arcieri-v-new-york-life-insurance-mad-2014.