Opinion
No. 11-35437 D.C. No. 1:10-cv-00156-RFC
02-04-2013
THRIVENT FINANCIAL FOR LUTHERANS, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. LUCIA E. ANDRONESCU, FKA Lucia E. Anderson, Defendant-cross-defendant - Appellee, v. JOHANNA M. ANDERSON, Defendant-cross-claimant - Appellant.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
MEMORANDUM
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Montana
Richard F. Cebull, Chief District Judge, Presiding
Submitted June 5, 2012
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Seattle, Washington
Before: SILVERMAN and MURGUIA, Circuit Judges, and HALL, District Judge.
The Honorable Janet C. Hall, District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, sitting by designation.
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In a dispute over who is the proper beneficiary of Brent Anderson's life insurance policy, the district court granted judgment on the pleadings in favor of Lucia Andronescu—Anderson's ex-wife—because it found that Mont. Code Ann. § 72-2-814, which revokes, upon divorce, the designation of a spouse as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, did not apply retroactively.
We certified the question to the Montana Supreme Court and now reverse because the Montana Supreme Court has ruled that Mont. Code. Ann. § 72-2-814 operates at the time of the insured's death and revoked Andronescu's status as a beneficiary of Anderson's policy. Thrivent Fin. for Lutherans v. Andronescu, 2013 MT 12, ___ P. 3d. ___, No. OP 12-0408, 2013 WL 227954 (Jan. 22, 2013).
REVERSED.