Physicians Life Insurance Company v. Beavers et al

Filing 26

Order re: 24 Status Report filed by Physicians Life Insurance Company, this action shall remain STAYED pending entry of final judgment in the case pending in Probate Court of Mobile County, AL. If final judgment has not been reached by 4/20/18, the parties shall file a joint Status Report by 4/24/2018. Signed by Magistrate Judge Katherine P. Nelson on 2/1/18. (srr)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
PHYSICIANS LIFE
INSURANCE COMPANY.
Plaintiff,
v.
MARY MORRIS BEAVERS,
MICHAEL R. MORRIS, and
MICHELLE MORRIS MELVIN,
Individually and as TRUSTEES of
the Living Trust of MARY M.
BEAVERS, and THOMAS J.
BEAVERS
Defendants.

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CIVIL ACTION 17-00447-N

ORDER
This matter is before the Court on the parties’ joint status report. (Doc. 24). As
detailed in the Complaint, this action involves a dispute regarding beneficiaries and
owners of a number of annuities. (Doc. 1). This matter is currently stayed pending
entry of final judgment in a pertinent state probate proceeding pending in the Probate
Court of Mobile County, Alabama, In Re: The Estate of Mary Morris Beavers, Case
No. 2017-1772.
According to the parties’ January 18, 2018 joint status report, “…a conservator
has not yet been appointed by the Probate Court of Mobile County. However, since
Physicians Life has paid its annuity payments in to the Clerk of Court for the United
States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama Southern Division the
status quo has been maintained. The Parties jointly request a continuation of the
present stay that has been ordered by this Court.” (Doc. 24).

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In general, a district court may stay an action as a means of controlling its
docket and managing its cases. Ortega Trujillo v. Conover & Co. Communications,
Inc., 221 F.3d 1262, 1264 (11th Cir. 2000) (citing Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, 707
(1997) (“The District Court has broad discretion to stay proceedings as an incident to
its power to control its own docket.”). A district court may also stay an action
“pending the resolution of related proceedings in another forum.” Id. (citation
omitted). However, the “district court must limit properly the scope of the stay” and
the stay “must not be ‘immoderate.’” Id. “As the Supreme Court has explained, ‘[a]
stay is immoderate and hence unlawful unless so framed in its inception that its force
will be spent within reasonable limits, so far at least as they are susceptible of
prevision and description.’” Id. (quoting Landis v. North American Co., 299 U.S. 248,
257 (1936)).
Upon consideration, this matter shall remain STAYED pending entry of final
judgment in above referenced case pending in the Probate Court of Mobile County,
Alabama. The parties shall file a joint status report within seven (7) days of final
judgment in the above referenced matter. If final judgment has not been reached on
or before Friday, April 20, 2018, the parties shall file a joint status report on or
before Tuesday, April 24, 2018.
DONE and ORDERED this the 1st day of February 2018.
/s/ Katherine P. Nelson
KATHERINE P. NELSON
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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