Murdock ex rel. Murdock v. Equitable Life Assurance Society

JOHN R. BROWN, Circuit Judge:

Jeffrey Murdock, Sr. died in a fire on February 8, 1981. At the time, he, as an employee of Bell States East (a division of Western Electric Corporation), was insured pursuant to a group policy issued by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of America. The terms of the policy permitted the insured to change the named beneficiary but required that any changes be in writing. Furthermore, the policy provided that such changes would become effective only when designated on the insurance records of the employer which were filed at Western Electric’s home office in New…