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It\'s Hard to Sue the U.S. Government Without Its Permission\\n\\nRobeIrta Jean Champlin appealed a decision from the United States Court \\nof Federal Claims dismissing for lack of subject matter jurisdiction her\\n claim that the United States must pay damages for the nonpayment of \\nlife insurance proceeds from her deceased former husband\'s Federal \\nEmployees Group Life Insurance policy.\\n\\nIn Roberta Jean Champlin v. United States, No. 2022-1402, United States \\nCourt of Appeals, Federal Circuit (April 10, 2023) Ms. Champlin sought \\npayment of a Federal Employees\' Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) policy \\nafter he ex-husband died because her divorce decree granted her half \\nownership in the policy.\\n\\nBACKGROUND\\n\\nThe Federal Employees\' Group Life Insurance Act (FEGLIA) establishes a \\ngroup life insurance program for federal employees. The United States \\nOffice of Personnel Management (OPM) is responsible for managing FEGLI \\npolices and has entered a contract with Metropolitan Life Insurance \\nCompany (MetLife) to provide insurance to federal employees.\\n\\nFEGLI proceeds are to be paid in the following order of precedence: (1) \\ndesignated beneficiaries; (2) widowed spouse; (3) children or \\ndescendants; (4) parents of deceased; (5) executor or administrator of \\nthe estate; and (6) next of kin.\\n\\nFactual & Procedural Background\\n\\nLewis Dean Champlin, during and after his marriage to Ms. Champlin, had \\nlife insurance through a FEGLI policy. In September 2012, the Champlins \\ndivorced. As part of their divorce proceedings, Ms. Champlin obtained \\nfrom the Alaskan state divorce court "award[ed Ms. Champlin] the option \\nto continue maintaining a one-half interest in that policy . . . [while \\nMr. Champlin] ha[d] the option of paying the other half of the policy \\nand c[ould] designate whoever he chooses to be beneficiary to the other \\nhalf of the policy benefits." Ms. Champlin paid for half of the policy \\nthereafter.\\n\\nOn January 3, 2016, Mr. Champlin died. Ms. Champlin did not receive her \\nhalf of the proceeds of his life insurance policy. Instead the proceeds \\nwere paid to Mr. Champlin\'s designated beneficiary at the time of his \\ndeath-Marilyn Susano.\\n\\nMs. Champlin sued the United States in the Court of Federal Claims, \\nalleging that she is entitled to half of Mr. Champlin\'s issued life \\ninsurance coverage and further requesting a judgment directing the \\nUnited States to pay her half of the FEGLI proceeds.\\n\\nThe OPM authorized MetLife to provide life insurance, and MetLife \\nestablished an administrative office, which is responsible for \\nadministering FEGLI claims. The Court of Federal Claims noted that it \\nfound that Ms. Champlin\'s complaint made no claim for a breach of a \\nlegal duty, only a claim to obtain money due under the FEGLI policy.\\n\\n(c) 2023 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.\\n\\nSubscribe and receive videos limited to subscribers of Excellence in Claims Handling at locals.com https://zalmaoninsurance.locals.com/subscribe.\\n\\nConsider subscribing to my publications at substack at https://barryzalma.substack.com/publish/post/107007808\\n\\nBarry Zalma, Esq., CFE is available at\\xa0http://www.zalma.com \\nand\\xa0zalma@zalma.com\\n\\nFollow me on LinkedIn: \\nwww.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=barry-zalma-esq-cfe-a6b5257\\n\\nGo to the Insurance Claims Library \\u2013 https://zalma.com/blog/insurance-claims-library.