Victory in the Georgia Court of Appeals Leads to Reversal of Superior Court Ruling Against our Client in a Beneficiary Suit

Stembridge Taylor secured another appellate court victory, resulting in reversal of a trial court’s erroneous order granting motion to dismiss against our client, the wife of a deceased life insurance policyholder. The decedent had a life insurance policy that at one point named his sister as the beneficiary. The decedent’s wife presented evidence that she was the intended beneficiary due to the steps her husband took to change the policy before he passed. She therefore contested her sister-in-law and claimed the death benefit with the insurance company. The insurance company filed an interpleader proceeding in the Superior Court of Dekalb County, Georgia and tendered the funds to the court’s registry. Despite’s the disputed material facts stemming from the wife’s factual allegations, the Court granted the co-defendant’s motion to dismiss.

Lisa Taylor, working with co-counsel John Nix, appealed the trial court’s order, arguing that the court disregarded well-pled allegations that court support the wife’s entitlement to relief if brought before a jury. The Georgia Court of Appeals agreed, reversing the trial court’s order as an improperly granted dismissal and remanding the case to proceed through discovery and trial.