Forcier Ex Rel. Estate of Forcier v. Metropolitan Life Insurance

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

This case is a procedural motley presenting a set of curious questions about the respective roles of insurance earners and federal courts under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461. When all is said and done, the appeal that we must decide turns on the parties’ agreeable acquiescence in the district court’s assumption of the insurer’s wonted role. The tale follows.

We assume the reader’s familiarity with the district court’s exegetic account of the relevant background, see Forcier ex rel. Forcier v. Forcier, 406 F.Supp.2d 132…