Life Insurer Asks Court to Free It From Sausage Maker's Estate

The company sold meatballs and sausages to Italian restaurants throughout the Chicago area. It moved into a 188,000-square-foot plant in McCook, Illinois, in 2008.

When Hormel bought Capitol Wholesale, the estate of Eugene Fontanini had a 4.91% stake in the company; the estate of his wife had a 4.91% stake; the Eugene Fontanini Irrevocable Grantor Trust had a 25.5% stake; the JoAnne Fontanini Irrevocable Grantor Trust had a 23.5% stake; and a Descendants Trust Created Under the Jennie Fontanini Irrevocable Grantor Trust had a 41.18% stake.

ReliaStar’s concerns: After Eugene Fontanini died, JoAnne Fontanini asked ReliaStar to distribute the term life benefits based on the stake each shareholder held in the company in 2017.

ReliaStar said it never received a request to change the owner or beneficiary of the policy before Eugene Fontanini died.

Even if the distribution of the company assets in 2017 affected the ownership of the term life policy, “ReliaStar is unable to determine the effect this distribution of ownership had, if any, on the beneficiaries of the Policy,” the insurer said.

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