Interpleader is a
civil procedure
Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and regulations along with some standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or ca ...
device that allows a
plaintiff
A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...
or a defendant to initiate a
lawsuit
A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...
in order to compel two or more other parties to
litigate
A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...
a dispute. An interpleader action originates when the plaintiff holds property on behalf of another, but does not know to whom the property should be transferred. It is often used to resolve disputes arising under
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...
contracts, such as when a plaintiff with a personal injury claim has a dispute with medical providers over the payment out of a settlement for medical services provided to treat the plaintiff's injuries.
Terminology and overview
In an interpleader action, the party initiating the litigation, normally the plaintiff, is termed the ''
stakeholder''. The money or other property in controversy is called the ''res'' (a
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
word meaning object or thing). All defendants having a possible interest in the subject matter of the case are called ''claimants''. In some jurisdictions, the plaintiff is referred to as the ''plaintiff-in-interpleader'' and each claimant a ''claimant-in-interpleader''.
An interpleader proceeding has two stages. The first stage determines if the stakeholder is entitled to an interpleader and if he should be discharged from liability. The second stage is like an action at law to determine which of the claimants is entitled to the res.
Application
Suppose a person dies with a valid
life insurance
Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract
A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...
policy in effect. The insurance company is ready, willing, and able to pay the policy proceeds in specified percentages to named beneficiaries as last directed by the policyholder, but becomes aware of a dispute among them and/or third parties as to who are the proper beneficiaries or the proper distribution of proceeds among the beneficiaries. Such a dispute commonly arises from interpersonal friction among the policyholder's survivors. One specific situation commonly seen in the reported cases is where the policyholder was allegedly murdered by a beneficiary (which would disqualify that beneficiary from receiving any proceeds).
To resolve such a dispute, the insurance company can file an interpleader action. The insurance company is the stakeholder, the claimants are the persons who might be beneficiaries under the policy, and the cash value of the policy benefit is the ''res''. Under the proceeding as originally developed, the stakeholder would deposit the ''res'' with the court, and then the defendants would have their claims adjudicated by the court. Statutory modifications to the procedure, which vary by jurisdiction, sometimes allow the stakeholder to retain the ''res'' pending final disposition of the case. Typically, once the stakeholder deposits the ''res'' into the court (for example, the face value of the insurance policy), the stakeholder is released from the action and the claimants proceed against each other to determine which of them is legally entitled to the ''res''. A disinterested stakeholder is entitled to
costs
Cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is ...
including
attorney's fee
Attorney's fee is a chiefly United States term for compensation for legal services performed by an Lawyer, attorney (lawyer or law firm) for a client, in or out of court.
Fees may be an hourly, flat-rate or contingent fee. Recent studies suggest ...
s. Except for the denominations of the parties, the action proceeds for the most part as other civil lawsuits in the same jurisdiction.
In some jurisdictions, the ''res'' will earn interest at the legal rate until disbursed. The successful claimant is entitled to the interest as well as the principal.
History
Origins in common law and equity
Interpleader had its origins as a civil procedure at
common law
Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
, which was later adopted and expanded by the
Court of Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...
in its
equitable jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...
. The common law procedure became obsolete over time and fell into disuse, but it remained active in the courts of equity.
It originally applied to
bailee
Bailment is a legal relationship in common law, where the owner of personal property ("chattel") transfers physical possession of that property to another, who holds the property for a certain purpose, but retains ownership. The owner who sur ...
s subject to multiple actions of
detinue
In tort law, detinue () is an action to recover for the wrongful taking of personal property. It is initiated by an individual who claims to have a greater right to their immediate possession than the current possessor. For an action in detinue ...
, and
privity
''Privity'' is a common law doctrine that governed the liability and obligations of contracting parties. Once an important concept in contract law, these relationships and obligations now fall within the scope of modern statutory laws, diminishing ...
was required either between the parties or in detinue, in order for the defendant to be able to sue for
garnishment
Garnishment is a legal process for collecting a monetary judgment on behalf of a plaintiff from a defendant. Garnishment allows the plaintiff (the "garnishor") to take the money or property of the debtor from the person or institution that holds t ...
.
In contrast, the equitable bill of interpleader required that:
# The same thing, debt, or duty must be the ''res'' claimed by all the claimants;
# All the adverse titles or claims must be dependent or derived from a common source;
# The stakeholder must not have or claim any interest it the ''res'',
# The stakeholder must have incurred no independent liability to any claimant, i.e. he must be perfectly indifferent between them.
Subsequent development in England and Wales
In 1831
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
passed the
Interpleader Act 1831
Interpleader is a civil procedure device that allows a plaintiff or a defendant to initiate a lawsuit in order to compel two or more other parties to litigate a dispute. An interpleader action originates when the plaintiff holds property on behal ...
that authorized a bill of interpleader to be brought in the common law courts (such as the
Court of Common Pleas) by:
:*
sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
s who have executed on goods or chattels that a third party makes a claim to, and defendants in actions of
assumpsit
Assumpsit ("he has undertaken", from Latin, ''assumere''), or more fully, action in assumpsit, was a form of action at common law used to enforce what are now called obligations arising in tort and contract; and in some common law jurisdictions, u ...
, debt,
detinue
In tort law, detinue () is an action to recover for the wrongful taking of personal property. It is initiated by an individual who claims to have a greater right to their immediate possession than the current possessor. For an action in detinue ...
or
trover
Trover () is a form of lawsuit in common law jurisdictions for recovery of damages for wrongful taking of personal property. Trover belongs to a series of remedies for such wrongful taking, its distinctive feature being recovery only for the valu ...
, who:
::* do not claim any interest in the subject of the subject matter of the suit, but the right to them is claimed or supposed to belong to a third party who has sued or expect to sue for the subject matter of the suit;
::* has not colluded in any matter with such third party
::* is ready to bring into court or pay or depose of the subject matter of the action in such manner as the court directs.
Statutory interpleader was extended by
Common Law Procedure Act 1860, which allowed a defendant to interplead claimants even if the title of the claimants to the ''res'' have no common origin, but are adverse to and independent of one another.
The statutory rules governing interpleader proceedings were replaced by rules of court that came into force upon the passage of the
Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873
The Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 ( 36 & 37 Vict. c. 66) (sometimes known as the Judicature Act 1873) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1873. It reorganised the English court system to establish the High Court an ...
(as amended by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1875), which came to be known as Order 17 of the
Rules of the Supreme Court
The Rules of the Supreme Court (RSC) were the rules which governed civil procedure in the Senior Courts of England and Wales, Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales (since 2009 called the Senior Courts) from its formation in 1883 until ...
. A similar provision was enacted in the
County Court Rules
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) ''Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denotin ...
, known as Order 33 in the Rules of 1981.
In cases where a person was subject to multiple claims, the applicant had to show that he:
:* claimed no interest in the subject-matter in dispute other than for charges or
costs
Cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is ...
;
:* did not collude with any of the claimants to that subject-matter; and
:* was willing to pay or transfer that subject-matter into court or to dispose of it as the court may direct.
As a result of the coming into force of Part 3 and Schedule 12 of the
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (c. 15) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for several diverse matters relating to the law, some of them being significant changes to the structure of the courts and fund ...
on 6 April 2014, Order 17 and Order 33 were replaced by the new Parts 83-86 of the
Civil Procedure Rules
The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) were introduced in 1997 as per the Civil Procedure Act 1997 by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee and are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Court in civi ...
. This replaced the interpleader proceedings previously governed by the court rules by the procedure of "enforcement by taking control of goods" under newly passed regulations. In addition, s. 65 of the 2007 Act declared:
Procedures are in effect for claims where:
:(a) a person makes an application to the court claiming that goods of which control has been taken belong to that person and not to the debtor;
:(b) a person makes an application to the court claiming that goods, money or chattels taken or intended to be taken under a
writ of execution
A writ of execution (also known as an execution) is a court order granted to put in force a judgment of possession obtained by a plaintiff from a court. When issuing a writ of execution, a court typically will order a sheriff or other similar of ...
or the proceeds or value of such goods or chattels belong to that person and not to the debtor; and
:(c) a debtor, whose goods have been made subject to an enforcement power under an enactment,
writ or warrant of control or have been taken or are intended to be taken under a writ of execution, claims that such goods or any of them are exempt goods.
The 2014 amendments have proved to be problematic, in that they now fail to cover a situation where:
:* a third party has given notice that they believe they are entitled to the goods under Rule 85.4(1),
:* a counter-notice is duly given by the creditor under Rule 85.4(3), but
:* the third party then fails to commence the application to the court which is required under Rule 85.5, and
:* the provisions of Rule 85.5 impose no time limit by which the application under that Rule must be made by the creditor or other party claiming an interest.
In February 2018, several
High Court enforcement officers asked the
Queen's Bench Division
The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts.
It hears appeals on point ...
for directions as to how to proceed in such circumstances, and the
Master
Master, master's or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
In education:
*Master (college), head of a college
*Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline
*Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...
ruled that the repeal of Rule 17 had the effect of reviving the equitable form of interpleader proceedings, as the 2007 Act did not expressly abolish the interpleader action itself, and "interpleader statutes are not at all to limit or affect the equitable jurisdiction of the court to entertain an interpleader suit or action."
In the United States
Formerly a plaintiff had to disavow any claim to the ''res'' in order to avail himself of the interpleader remedy, but this requirement has also been relaxed or abolished in most jurisdictions by there being
Bill in the Nature of Interpleaderrather than
strict bill of interpleader A plaintiff may now argue that neither of the claimants has a right to the property at issue. For example, a person dies with a life insurance policy that excludes coverage for suicide. Two people come forward claiming to be the beneficiary named in the policy. The insurance company believes that the deceased committed suicide, but the claimants believe the death was by accident. The insurance company could interplead the two claimants and simultaneously deny the claims.
The
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
ruled in ''
New York Life v. Dunlevy'' , that for a claimant to be bound by an interpleader that party must be served process in a way that obtains
personal jurisdiction
Personal jurisdiction is a court's jurisdiction over the ''parties'', as determined by the facts in evidence, which bind the parties to a lawsuit, as opposed to subject-matter jurisdiction, which is jurisdiction over the ''law'' involved in the ...
. In 1922 the United States Supreme Court in ''
Liberty Oil Co. v. Condon Nat. Bank'' sustained that a defensive interpeader in an action at law in federal court could be taken under Judicial Code section 274b added by that authorized the interposing of equitable defenses in actions at law.
The
Federal Interpleader Act of 1917 was enacted by the
64th United States Congress
The 64th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1915, t ...
approved February 22, 1917 to overcome the problem with an interpleader when the claimants live in different states raised in ''New York Life v. Dunlevy''. The Federal Interpleader Act of 1917 allowed an
insurance company
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...
, or
fraternal benefit society
A benefit society, fraternal benefit society, or fraternal benefit order is a voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit, for instance insurance for relief from sundry difficulties. Such organizations may be formally organized with ...
subject to multiple claims on the same
policy
Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an or ...
to file a suit in
equity by a bill of interpleader in
United States district court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...
s and providing nationwide
service of process
Each legal jurisdiction has rules and discrete terminology regarding the appropriate procedures for serving legal documents on a person being sued or subject to legal proceedings. In the U.S. legal system, service of process is the procedure ...
. The policy must have a value of at least $500 claimed were claimed or may be claimed by adverse claimants; which is less than the
amount in controversy
Amount in controversy (sometimes called jurisdictional amount) is a term used in civil procedure to denote the amount at stake in a lawsuit, in particular in connection with a requirement that persons seeking to bring a lawsuit in a particular cou ...
of $3,000 in
Judicial Code §48(1) then required for general
diversity jurisdiction
In the law of the United States, diversity jurisdiction is a form of subject-matter jurisdiction that gives United States federal courts the power to hear lawsuits that do not involve a federal question. For a federal court to have diversity ju ...
and two or more of the beneficiaries must live in different states. In 1926 it was repealed and replaced by, approved May 8, 1926, which added to those who can bring suit
casualty
Casualty may refer to:
*Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster
**Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare
* The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
company and
surety
In finance, a surety , surety bond, or guaranty involves a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. Usually, a surety bond or surety is a promise by a person or company (a ''sure ...
company, empowered the court to enjoin claimant from proceeding in any state or other federal court on the same liability, adding provisions as to the proper venue for the interpleader in certain cases but required that there must be actual claims by eliminating the words "may claim" that were in the 1917 act. In 1936 the Federal Interpeader Act was again repealed and replaced by the
Federal Interpleader Act of 1936, , approved Jan. 20, 1936, drafted by
Zechariah Chafee which codified it in as
United States Judicial Code §41(26), and established the modern
statutory interpleader allowing suit to be brought by any person, firm, corporation, association or society having custody of money or property or insurance policy or instrument valued at $500 or more which there are two or more adverse claimant who are citizens of different states, whether or not the claims have common origins, identical, adverse or independent of each other, and allowed it to be an
equitable defense in actions at
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
, Judicial Code §274b. When the United States Judicial Code was enacted into
United States Code
The United States Code (formally The Code of Laws of the United States of America) is the official Codification (law), codification of the general and permanent Law of the United States#Federal law, federal statutes of the United States. It ...
as
positive law
Positive laws () are human-made laws that oblige or specify an action. Positive law also describes the establishment of specific rights for an individual or group. Etymologically, the name derives from the verb ''to posit''.
The concept of posit ...
in 1948, approved June 25, 1948, it was reconstituted as , , and .
Federal courts have held that because of the deposit of the ''res'' with the court an interpleader action is an action to determine the validity of competing claims to identified property that served may be under which authorize other forms of service to obtain ''
in rem jurisdiction'' over absent defendants.
Different types of interpleader in U.S. federal practice
There are two specific types of interpleader actions in the
United States federal courts
The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution and Law of the United States, laws of the fed ...
. Statutory Interpleader governed by , and Rule Interpleader established by
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (officially abbreviated Fed. R. Civ. P.; colloquially FRCP) govern civil procedure in United States district courts. They are the companion to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rules promulgated by the ...
.
Statutory interpleader
* allows an individual with a stake which is, or may be, claimed by two or more adverse claimants, to interplead those claimants and bring them into a singular action.
* Jurisdiction: Under , a person anywhere within the United States may be served by the stakeholder
* Diversity:
Diversity jurisdiction
In the law of the United States, diversity jurisdiction is a form of subject-matter jurisdiction that gives United States federal courts the power to hear lawsuits that do not involve a federal question. For a federal court to have diversity ju ...
is satisfied as long as there are two claimants of different states . For example, if you have three claimants, two of which are residents of Florida, and one from California, diversity would be satisfied. The diversity of the stakeholder, however, is irrelevant to the rule. This is known as minimal diversity and was held to be permissible under
Article III, § 2 of the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...
, ''
State Farm Fire and Cas. Co. v. Tashire''
* Amount in controversy: The stake in the claim (
amount in controversy
Amount in controversy (sometimes called jurisdictional amount) is a term used in civil procedure to denote the amount at stake in a lawsuit, in particular in connection with a requirement that persons seeking to bring a lawsuit in a particular cou ...
) must be ''greater than or equal'' to $500 in value , opposed to the Rule Interpleader requirement of any amount ''exceeding'' $75,000 in diversity based actions .
* Venue: The venue for a Statutory Interpleader is in the Judicial District in which one of the claimants resides, .
* Deposit: A Statutory Interpleader action is commenced by the stakeholder who must initially deposit with the court, the
amount in controversy
Amount in controversy (sometimes called jurisdictional amount) is a term used in civil procedure to denote the amount at stake in a lawsuit, in particular in connection with a requirement that persons seeking to bring a lawsuit in a particular cou ...
, or post a specific bond with the court, . The stakeholder may, however, at trial claim they don't owe money to the claimants at all, since the action can be in the nature of interpleader.
Such an action may be entertained although the titles or claims of the conflicting claimants do not have a common origin, or are not identical, but are adverse to and independent of one another. .
* Injunction: Once the statutory interpleader action is commenced, the court may restrict all claimants from starting or continuing any action which would affect the stake, make such injunction permanent, and discharge the stakeholder from liability. . Such
injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...
is not governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule .
The may claim language added in 1948 codification to
Title 28 of the United States Code
Title 28 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) is the portion of the United States Code (federal statutory law) that governs the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal judicial system.
It is divided into six parts:
* Part I: Organization ...
in the definitions of claim allow interpleader for unliquidated claims, such as multiple claimant to a
liability insurance
Liability insurance (also called third-party insurance) is a part of the general insurance system of risk financing to protect the purchaser (the "insured") from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims and protects the in ...
policy injured in an accident before they are reduced to judgment or settled, however the injunction may only restrain the claimants from suits making claims against the ''res'' not suits to liquidate the claim or against third parties. The procedures for a Statutory Interpleader action are governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 22(b).
Rule interpleader
(Current as of December 1, 2011)
Interpleader is also allowed by the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (officially abbreviated Fed. R. Civ. P.; colloquially FRCP) govern civil procedure in United States district courts. They are the companion to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rules promulgated by the ...
. Rule 22 is known as rule interpleader. Rule interpleader provides a remedy for any person who is, or may be exposed to double or multiple liabilities. The stakeholder may invoke Rule 22 as a plaintiff, or by counter-claiming in an action already started against him by one, or more claimants. There are specific differences between Statutory Interpleader, and Rule Interpleader:
* Jurisdiction: Rule Interpleader does not provide a basis for jurisdiction in the
United States District Court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...
; there must be an independent basis of jurisdiction under
Title 28 of the United States Code
Title 28 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) is the portion of the United States Code (federal statutory law) that governs the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal judicial system.
It is divided into six parts:
* Part I: Organization ...
, i.e.,
diversity jurisdiction
In the law of the United States, diversity jurisdiction is a form of subject-matter jurisdiction that gives United States federal courts the power to hear lawsuits that do not involve a federal question. For a federal court to have diversity ju ...
which requires that the claimants have complete diversity between the stakeholder, and all claimants; but not between the claimants, or
federal question jurisdiction
In United States law, federal question jurisdiction is a type of subject-matter jurisdiction that gives United States federal courts the power to hear civil cases where the plaintiff alleges a violation of the United States Constitution, feder ...
i.e., when a claim is based on federal law; or there is a specific statute authorizing interpleader i.e., or .
* Service: There is no nationwide service of process as in a statutory interpleader action. Service must be carried out within the state where the court sits, or according to the
long-arm statute of the state, Rul
4(k)(1)
* Amount in Controversy: The amount in controversy must exceed $75,000 if based on diversity jurisdiction meeting the requirements of .
* Deposit: There is no deposit required to be made with the court for a Rule 22 interpleader action. The stakeholder may claim that they are not liable in whole, or part, to any or all the claimants, Rule 22(a)(1)(B). However for the stakeholder to be discharged he must deposit the money or property with the court pursuant to Rule .
Bankruptcy
In
bankruptcy court interpleader under
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (officially abbreviated Fed. R. Civ. P.; colloquially FRCP) govern civil procedure in United States district courts. They are the companion to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rules promulgated by the ...
may be maintained as an
adversary proceeding
An adversary proceeding in bankruptcy is a type of lawsuit in the American legal system. It is distinguished from other suits by being filed in a United States bankruptcy court in connection with a larger bankruptcy proceeding.
Procedure
Advers ...
under
Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
The Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure (abbreviated Fed. R. Bankr. P. or FRBP) are a set of rules promulgated by the Supreme Court of the United States under the Rules Enabling Act, directing procedures in the United States bankruptcy courts. ...
.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 22
Interpleader in U.S. State practice
The
Uniform Commercial Code
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through U ...
br>
§7-603adopted in all 50 of the states of the United States provides that a
bailee
Bailment is a legal relationship in common law, where the owner of personal property ("chattel") transfers physical possession of that property to another, who holds the property for a certain purpose, but retains ownership. The owner who sur ...
may bring an interpleader as an original action or as a defense to a suit for nondelivery when more than one person claims title to or possession of the goods under document of title (
warehouse receipt or
bill of lading
A bill of lading () (sometimes abbreviated as B/L or BOL) is a document issued by a common carrier, carrier (or their Law of agency, agent) to acknowledge receipt of cargo for shipment. Although the term is historically related only to Contract of ...
).
In
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
interpleader is called concursus.
In most states there are statutes or court rules that provide for interpleader similar to the federal rules.
See also
*
Multiplepoinding
In Scots law, multiplepoinding, (pronounced as if spelled multiple·pinnding) was a form of action by which conflicting claims to the same fund or property are determined.
The action is brought either by the holder or by a claimant in his name. ...
, a similar form of action in
Scots law
Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...
Further reading
*
*
References
Sources
*
External links
* {{cite BAILII, litigants=Celador Radio Ltd v Rancho Steak House Ltd (Equitable Interpleader - Enforcement), link=, court=EWHC, division=QB, year=2018, num=219, parallelcite=, date=16 February 2018
Civil procedure
Equity (law)
Equitable defenses