Lincoln National Life Insurance Co v. Retirement Value LLC

── Lincoln National Life Insurance Co v. Retirement Value LLC ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Date: June 10, 2026 Category: General U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT No. 24-2663 LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE CO v. RETIREMENT VALUE LLC, Appellant _____________________________ On Appeal from the U.S. District Court, D.N.J. Judge Robert Kirsch, No. 3:21-cv-20438 Before: RESTREPO, MCKEE, AND AMBRO, Circuit Judges Submitted: Nov. 14, 2025; Filed: June 10, 2026 _________ NONPRECEDENTIAL OPINION* _________ RESTREPO, Circuit Judge. Appellant, Retirement Value, LLC, sought to collect payment on life insurance policies issued by Appellee, Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (“Lincoln”). Lincoln, believing the policies to be void ab initio, filed a lawsuit and was eventually granted summary judgment. Retirement Value now appeals that judgment and the dismissal of its counterclaims. For the reasons that follow, we will affirm the District Court’s order. * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and, pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7, does not constitute binding precedent.  I. By way of background, stranger-originated life insurance policies (STOLIs) are life insurance policies “procured and financed by investors—strangers—who have no insurable interest in the life of the insured yet, from the outset, are the ultimate intended beneficiaries of the policy.” Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 208 A.3d 839, 850 (N.J. 2019). STOLIs are void ab initio under New Jersey law. Id. at 857 (“When an insurance policy violates public policy, it is as though the policy never came into existence.”); N.J. Stat. Ann. § 17B: 24-1.1(b). This case involves STOLI policies procured to insure the life of Haya Majerovic. In 2007, her son Moshe Majerovic entered into an agreement with investors whereby he would secure an insurance policy on his mother’s life and the investors would pay the premiums on the policy until it either matured or was sold. The agreement was that Moshe Majerovic would get 10% of the policy’s value at the time of sale or maturity, minus the amount paid for the premiums, and the remaining 90% would be paid to the investors. The investors in Mrs. Majerovic’s life insurance policy were two organizations: Congregation Sons of Ateres Joshua and Congregation Beis Shloma. The agreement was memorialized in a document titled the Haya Majerovic Family Trust Agreement, which was dated February 1, 2007. The situs of the Haya Majerovic Family Trust (the “Trust”) was Lakewood, New Jersey. On or about March 8, 2007, Jefferson Pilot Life Insurance Company (“Jefferson Pilot”), a predecessor entity to Lincoln, received an initial application for an $8 million insurance policy on Mrs. Majerovic’s life. The application, signed in Lakewood, New Jersey, listed the Trust as 2 the owner and beneficiary of the policy. A financial supplement to the application, also signed in Lakewood, New Jersey, falsely represented that Mrs. Majerovic had a net worth of $13 million. While the application was pending, an amendment was submitted requesting that the policy be split into two policies: a $5 million policy with the benefit going to the Congregation Beis Shloma, and a $3 million policy with the benefit going to the Congregation Sons of Ateres Joshua. Jefferson Pilot/Lincoln granted the request and issued the two policies for delivery to the Trust at its Lakewood, New Jersey address. The Majerovics never paid any of the premiums for the policies. In 2010, the Trust sold the pol