Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance v. Birkelund

Plaintiff insurance company filed this action in interpleader after each of the two defendants had made claim upon it for the proceeds of a policy of insurance issued by it in 1921 on the life of James R. Birkelund, now deceased. One of the defendant-claimants is Hilda Olsen Birkelund, hereinafter called Hilda, the first wife of the decedent, and the other defendant-claimant is Ruth Lillian Birkelund, hereinafter called Lillian, who also entered into a marriage with the decedent. Hilda asserts equitable claims, deriving from a property settlement agreement with James, executed in 1931,…