Cadwallader V. Allstate Insurance Company

In this writ, the sole issue to be determined is whether foster children of the insured qualified as "relatives" under the uninsured motorist policy, which limited coverage to the insured and "resident relatives." The court of appeal reversed the trial court and held that the inclusion of the term "resident relative" was ambiguous as applied to the insured's foster children and, thus, had to be construed as including foster children. We granted Allstate's writ application to determine the correctness of that decision. Cadwallader v. Allstate, 02-1637 (La. 10/25/02), 827 So.2d 1156. For the following reasons we reverse the court of appeal, finding that the term "relative" is not an ambiguous term and where the policy definition of "relative" does not specifically include foster children, the term "relative" does not include a foster child of the insured.