The Prudential Insurance Company of America v. Estrada et al

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO
THE PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE
COMPANY OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
v. 	1:25-cv-00370-SCY-JMR
KASEY ROBIN ESTRADA,
LUKE ESTRADA, and S.E.,
a minor.
Defendants.
ORDER APPOINTING GUARDIAN AD LITEM
THIS MATTER comes before the Court sua sponte. Defendant S.E. is currently an
unrepresented minor. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17(c)(2), “[t]he court must appoint
a guardian ad litem . . . to protect a minor or incompetent person who is unrepresented in an
action.” See also Mut. Life Ins. Co. of N.Y. v. Ginsburg, 228 F.2d 881, 883–84 (3d Cir. 1956)
(holding that a court may appoint a guardian to represent the interest of the minor claimants in an
interpleader action). Here, S.E.’s mother is unable to serve as his guardian ad litem because she
has an unwaivable conflict of interest. Burke v. Smith, 252 F.3d 1260, 1264 (11th Cir. 2001)
(“Where it is evident that a conflict of interest exists between the parent and minor, however, the
district court has a duty to determine whether a guardian ad litem is needed.”) (citation omitted).
As such, the Court will appoint a third-party guardian ad litem to represent S.E.’s interests.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that attorney Kelly S. Sanchez shall be appointed as
guardian ad litem for S.E. To the extent the guardian ad litem seeks reasonable fees, and subject
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to further approval by the Court, those fees shall be paid from the corpus of the life insurance
proceeds at issue in this case.
________________________________________
JENNIFER M. ROZZONI
United States Magistrate Judge
Case 1:25-cv-00370-KWR-JMR Document 16 Filed 11/18/25 Page 2 of 2