Independent Order of Foresters v. Gold-Fogel, No. 20-14310 (11th Cir. 2021)
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Foresters filed an interpleader action concerning the proper disbursement of about $3 million in life insurance proceeds arising from the death of the insured, Andrew. Cathleen, Andrew’s ex-wife, and David, Andrew’s son, advanced competing claims to the money. Cathleen filed a “counterclaim” against Foresters and David in the interpleader action, seeking a declaratory judgment that she was entitled to the insurance proceeds under a Marital Settlement Agreement that required Andrew to purchase the life insurance at issue for alimony and child support purposes. The Florida state court that presided over the divorce ratified and adopted the Agreement when it dissolved Cathleen and Andrew’s marriage. David filed a state-court action asserting common-law and Florida state-law claims that Cathleen violated the Agreement. The district court stayed the federal action until resolution of the state-court action to interpret the Agreement and dismissed Cathleen’s declaratory-judgment claim against Foresters.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed. After Foresters was dismissed from the federal litigation, both the federal and state proceedings involve the same two parties; the issues in both proceedings are substantially similar and will be effectively resolved in the state litigation.
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