Estate of Nicholas A. Mastroianni, Sr., by its Co-Executors, Nicholas Mastroianni II, John Mastroianni, and Stephanie Mastroianni v. U.S. Bank National Association, and Financial Credit Investment III SPV-B (Cayman), L.P.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedFebruary 4, 2026
Docket1:24-cv-01040
StatusUnknown

This text of Estate of Nicholas A. Mastroianni, Sr., by its Co-Executors, Nicholas Mastroianni II, John Mastroianni, and Stephanie Mastroianni v. U.S. Bank National Association, and Financial Credit Investment III SPV-B (Cayman), L.P. (Estate of Nicholas A. Mastroianni, Sr., by its Co-Executors, Nicholas Mastroianni II, John Mastroianni, and Stephanie Mastroianni v. U.S. Bank National Association, and Financial Credit Investment III SPV-B (Cayman), L.P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of Nicholas A. Mastroianni, Sr., by its Co-Executors, Nicholas Mastroianni II, John Mastroianni, and Stephanie Mastroianni v. U.S. Bank National Association, and Financial Credit Investment III SPV-B (Cayman), L.P., (D. Del. 2026).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE ESTATE OF NICHOLAS A. MASTROIANNI, SR., by its Co- Executors, Nicholas Mastroianni II, John Mastroianni, and Stephanie Mastroianni, Civil Action No. 24-1040-CFC Plaintiff, V. U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, and FINANCIAL CREDIT INVESTMENT Il] SPV-B (Cayman), L.P., Defendants.

Kaan Ekiner and Nathan Barillo, COZEN O’CONNOR, Wilmington, Delaware; Michael J. Miller, Brian D. Burack, Duncan R. Becker, and Benjamin J. Kampf, COZEN O’CONNOR, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Counsel for Plaintiff Jesse L. Noa and P. Andrew Smith, POTTER ANDERSON & CORROON LLP, Wilmington, Delaware Counsel for Defendant Financial Credit Investment III SPV-B (Cayman) L.P. MEMORANDUM OPINION February 4, 2026 Wilmington, Delaware

i COLM Rn HIEF JUDGE At the center of this case is an insurance policy issued in 2005 by Travelers Life and Annuity Company (Travelers) on the life of Nicholas A. Mastroianni, Sr. (the Mastroianni policy). According to the operative First Amended Complaint (the Complaint), after Mr. Mastroianni died in 2022, Travelers paid the policy’s death benefit to Defendant U.S. Bank N.A. (U.S. Bank). D.I. 8 9§ 103, 105. The Complaint also alleges “upon information and belief” that Defendant Financial Credit Investment II] SPV-B (Cayman), L.P. (FCI Cayman) “received the [p]olicy’s death benefit proceeds after [Travelers] sent those death benefit proceeds to U.S. Bank.” D.I. 8 § 7. The Complaint does not allege when, where, or from whom FCI Cayman received these proceeds. Plaintiff The Estate of Nicholas A. Mastroianni (the Estate) initiated this suit against U.S. Bank in the Superior Court of Delaware. D.I. 1-1. U.S. Bank removed the action to this Court. D.I. 1. About a month later, the Estate filed the Complaint, adding FCI Cayman as a defendant. D.I. 8. The Estate alleges in the Complaint’s only count a claim under Delaware’s so-called “insurable interest” statute, 18 Del. C. § 2704. Pending before me is FCI Cayman’s motion pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2) to dismiss FCI Cayman as a defendant for lack of

personal jurisdiction. D.I. 25. It is undisputed that FCI Cayman is a Cayman Islands limited partnership created in 2017 with an address in the Cayman Islands.

D.I. 89 7; D.I. 27 § 2; D.137. The Estate says that I have personal jurisdiction over FCI Cayman pursuant to sections (1) through (4) of Delaware’s long-arm statute, 10 Del. C. § 3104(c). See D.I. 37 at 9-16. FCI Cayman counters that the Estate has neither alleged in the Complaint nor presented any evidence that would allow me to lawfully exercise jurisdiction over FCI Cayman based on section 3104(c). It also argues that exercising personal jurisdiction over FCI Cayman would violate the Constitution’s Due Process Clause. I will grant the motion for the reasons explained below. To be clear, though, section 3104(c) applies here only because of a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure not mentioned in the parties’ briefing. Specifically, Rule 4(k)(1)(A) provides that “[s]erving a summons or filing a waiver of service establishes personal jurisdiction over a defendant who is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of general jurisdiction in the state where the district court is located.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(k)(1)(A). As a result of this rule, “[f]ederal courts ordinarily follow state law in determining the bounds of their jurisdiction over persons.” Daimler AG v. Bauman, 571 U.S. 117, 125 (2014). To make that determination, “the court must apply the relevant state long-arm statute to see if it permits the

exercise of personal jurisdiction.” [MO Indus., Inc. v. Kiekert AG, 155 F.3d 254, 259 (3d Cir. 1998). Rule 4(k)(1)(A) governs here because the Estate filed a waiver of service of

summons executed by FCI Cayman. D.I. 16. Because I agree with FCI Cayman that Delaware’s long-arm statute does not permit the exercise of personal jurisdiction over FC] Cayman in a Delaware state court, I do not have personal jurisdiction over FCI Cayman under Rule 4(1)(k)(A). And because of that finding, I need not and do not consider whether the Due Process Clause would also bar me from exercising jurisdiction over FCI Cayman. See generally Lyng v. Nw. Indian Cemetery Protective Ass’n, 485 U.S. 439, 445 (1988) (“A fundamental and longstanding principle of judicial restraint requires that courts avoid reaching constitutional questions in advance of the necessity of deciding them.”). Section 2704(a) makes it unlawful to

procure or cause to be procured any insurance contract upon the life or body of another individual unless the benefits under such contract are payable to the individual insured or that individual’s personal representatives or to a person having, at the time when such contract was made, an insurable interest in the individual insured. 18 Del. C. § 2704(a). Thus, section 2704(a) “require[s] that a person procuring a life insurance policy have an ‘insurable interest’ in the life of the insured.” Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Est. of Malkin, 278 A.3d 53, 59 (Del. 2022). Section 2704(c)

limits the categories of people who can lawfully have an insurable interest in the

life of an insured individual to persons and entities with close familial, legal, or

business ties to that individual. So-called stranger-originated life insurance or “STOLI” policies—i.e., policies purchased by speculators on the life of strangers—lack an insurable interest and are unlawful under section 2704. PHL Variable Ins. Co. v. Price Dawe 2006 Ins. Trust, 28 A.3d 1059, 1073-74 (Del. 2011). Section 2704(b) creates a cause of action for “the individual insured or the individual’s executor or administrator, as the case may be” to recover any benefits paid by the insurer of a STOLI policy to “the beneficiary, assignee or other payee” of that policy. In this case, the Estate seeks to recover pursuant to section 2704(b) the death benefits of the Mastroianni policy Travelers paid to U.S. Bank. D.I. 8 117-125. II. The 31-page, 125-paragraph Complaint is, to put it mildly, a mess. It is confusing, inconsistent, vague, lacking in coherent structure, painfully repetitive, and replete with nonrelevant accusations and inuendo. It devotes pages to inappropriate legal argument. See Osby v. Park Pictures, LLC, 2017 WL 374902, at *5 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 25, 2017) (“Legal argument, case citations and refutation of arguments that are anticipated are not necessary or appropriate in a pleading.”)

(quotation marks and citation omitted). It cites in paragraph 116, for example, eleven cases that the Estate says are “just like this one,” as if that somehow

matters. D.I. 8 7 116. Perhaps most frustrating are the Complaint’s bridges to nowhere— references to companies and entities without explanation about how the named companies or entities have any relevance to the asserted claim. A good example of this abuse is a ten-page section of the Complaint titled “Coventry’s Two-Year, Non-Recourse Premium Finance STOLI Scheme.” D.I. 8 §§ 42-74. The Complaint alleges that this two-year scheme began in 2001. That means that the alleged scheme ended in 2003—two years before Travelers issued the Mastroianni policy and nineteen years before Travelers paid out the policy’s benefits.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Assn.
485 U.S. 439 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Patrick Tillio, Sr. v. Northland Group Inc
456 F. App'x 78 (Third Circuit, 2012)
Imo Industries, Inc. v. Kiekert Ag
155 F.3d 254 (Third Circuit, 1998)
Daimler AG v. Bauman
134 S. Ct. 746 (Supreme Court, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Estate of Nicholas A. Mastroianni, Sr., by its Co-Executors, Nicholas Mastroianni II, John Mastroianni, and Stephanie Mastroianni v. U.S. Bank National Association, and Financial Credit Investment III SPV-B (Cayman), L.P., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-nicholas-a-mastroianni-sr-by-its-co-executors-nicholas-ded-2026.