Wonsey v. Life Insurance Co. Of North America

32 F.Supp. 2d 939 (S.D. Mich. 1998)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Wonsey (P) sustained severe personal injuries from an auto accident. At the time of the accident, P was a minor six years of age. On December 8, 1983, three years after the accident, P’s parents entered into a Settlement Agreement and Release with INA. INA agreed to make future payments to P, and in order to facilitate the payment of benefits, D purchased an annuity contract from one of its affiliates Life Insurance Company of North America (D). On April 21, 1998, P was of adult age when he entered into a contract with Singer. The agreement purported to assign future payments from the annuity contract. On the same day, P also provided D with a written notification of his decision to change the beneficiary status of the settlement agreement and annuity contract to his estate. P also directed D to change the address to which payments were to be made and for D to acknowledge these changes in writing. D refused to comply with all of P’s written requests and has impaired him from completing his assignment to Singer. The settlement agreement provided that P did not have the right to change the beneficiary of the policy or to assign it.