Gerber interpleads policies on Banita Jacks’ daughters 

Posted: 7:00 pm Sun, March 28, 2010
By Barbara Grzincic
Daily Record Managing Editor/Law

Gerber Life Insurance Co. has asked the federal court in Greenbelt to determine who should receive the proceeds of “Grow-Up Protection Plan” policies it issued on two of the four daughters of Banita M. Jacks, who was convicted last year of murdering her daughters.

The children’s grandmother, Mamie V. Jacks of Waldorf, purchased a $5,000 policy on Brittany Jacks in 1991 and a $10,000 policy on Tatiana Jacks in early 2000. Now, she wants to use the money to pay for the girls’ gravesite monuments.

However, Brittany’s policy names Banita Jacks as the beneficiary, while Tatiana’s policy lists the beneficiaries as “the parents of the Proposed Insured.”

Banita Jacks is likely to be barred from claiming the benefits because of her murder conviction and 120-year prison sentence. Brittany, 17; Tatiana, 11; and their sisters, ages 5 and 6, were found dead in their mother’s Southeast Washington, D.C., home on Jan. 9, 2008. The prosecution estimated they had been dead for several months.

But the girls’ fathers were not implicated in their deaths. Nor was Mamie Jacks, who has assigned her interest in the policy to Raymond Funeral Service P.A. of La Plata.

Gerber, of White Plains, N.Y., does not deny coverage but says it has received conflicting claims and is afraid of paying the wrong person. It filed separate interpleader actions last week in U.S. District Court.

The cases are Gerber Life Ins. Co. v. Stoddard et al., 8:10-cv-00712-RWT, and Gerber Life Ins. Co. v. Hand, Pers. Rep. Estate of Jacks, et al., 8:10-cv-00713-DKC. Both suits were filed by Brian D. Bolton of Funk & Bolton P.A. in Baltimore.