Ritter v. Mutual Life Ins Co of New York

• Decision Date: 17 January 1898
• Docket Number: No. 142,142
• Citation: 42 L.Ed. 693,169 U.S. 139,18 S.Ct. 300
• Parties: RITTER v. MUTUAL LIFE INS. CO. OF NEW YORK
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

169 U.S. 139

18 S.Ct. 300

42 L.Ed. 693

RITTER

v MUTUAL LIFE INS. CO. OF NEW YORK.

No. 142.

January 17, 1898.

R. C. Dale, Geo. Tucker Bispham, and J. H. Barnes, for plaintiff in error.

John G. Johnson (Edward Lyman Short and Charles P. Sherman, with him on the brief), for defendant in error.

Mr. Justice HARLAN delivered the opinion of the court.

This action was brought against the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York on six policies of life insurance, each bearing date November 10, 1891,—one for $20,000, one for $15,000, and four for $10,000 each. There was a verdict in its favor, upon which judgment was entered, and that judgment was affirmed in the circuit court of appeals. 28 U. S. App. 612, 17 C. C. A. 537, and 70 Fed. 954.

The policies were all alike, except as to the amount of insurance, and were in the following form:

'In consideration of the application for this policy, which is hereby made a part of this contract, the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York promises to pay at its home office, in the city of New York, unto William M. Runk, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia, state of Pennsylvania, his executors, administrators, or assigns, twenty thousand dollars, upon acceptance of satisfactory proofs at its home office of the death of the said William M. Runk during the continuance of this policy, upon the following condition, and subject to the provisions, requirements, and benefits stated on the back of this policy, which are hereby referred to and made part hereof: The annual premium of seven hundred and eighty-two dollars shall be paid in advance on the delivery of this policy, and thereafter to the company, at its home office, in the city of New York, on the tenth day of November in every year during the continuance of this contract. In witness whereof,' etc. The 'provisions, requirements, and benefits' thus made part of the policy will be referred to hereafter.

The assured died October 5, 1892; all premiums falling due previous to his death having been paid. It is not disputed that he took his own life.

In the affidavit of defense filed by the insurance company, it is stated that, at or about the time of the execution of the policies in suit, Runk held policies upon his life, to the extent of $315,000, issued to him by other companies; that during the year 1892 he effected additional insurance to a considerable amount, the total amount at or about the time of his death being $500,000; that, prior to taking the additional insurance of $200,000, he was indebted in a very large amount, by reason of the improper use of moneys intrusted to him in a fiduciary and in a quasi fiduciary capacity; that he was without resources of his own sufficient to meet the amount of that indebtedness; that he was confronted with the fear of being convicted of breach of trust, and was desirous to protect pecuniarily those whom he had injured; that he deliberately determined to commit suicide for the purpose of escaping the necessity of meeting those whose confidence had been betrayed, and with the intention, through moneys expected to be paid on his policies of insurance, to liquidate, wholly or in part, the debts owing by him; that he deliberately and intentionally took his life, being at the time in sound mind, and in the full possession of his mental faculties; and that his suicide was not the result of, nor occasioned by, mental unsoundness, but was the act of a man mentally and morally able to understand all the consequences thereof.

The affidavit of defense also contained the following statements:

'The policies of insurance sued upon contain a reference to the application therefor, which is made a part of the contract of insurance. A copy of this application is hereto attached, which, it is prayed, may be taken as a part of this affidavit. Under the advice of counsel, the defendant avers that this application is a part of said contract; and that the contract of insurance was a contract made in the state of New York, and to be interpreted by, and in accordance with, the laws of that state.

'The policies of insurance sued upon were delivered to the said Runk upon the faith of an independent contract entered into by him, embodied in the said application, to the effect that, if such policies should be granted, he, the said Runk, did 'warrant and agree * * * that I will not die by my own act, whether sane or insane, during the said period of two years'; said period of two years dating from the 6th day of November, 1891.

'The said Runk did, within the period of two years, commit a breach of said contract, by killing himself, as has been before stated, in the way and manner above recited. By reason of the breach of said contract, and only by reason of such breach, the policy of insurance matured, and damages occasioned by such breach are equivalent in amount to that demanded under the policies.'

Each of the applications for policies signed by the assured, and attached to the affidavit of defense, contained the following:

'I hereby warrant and agree * * * not to engage in any specially hazardous occupation or employment during the next two years following the date of issue of the policy for which application is hereby made, and also not to engage in any military or naval service, in time of war, during the continuance of the policy, without first obtaining permission from this company. I also warrant and agree that I will not die by my own act, whether sane or insane, during the said period of two years.'

At the trial below the defendant offered in evidence Runk's application for insurance. This was objected to on the ground that the application was not attached to the policy, and under an act of the general assembly of Pennsylvania appro ed May 11, 1881, could not, for that reason, be considered as part of the contract, or be admitted in evidence. The defendant, by counsel, stated at the time that the paper was not offered for the purpose of making it, as an 'application,' part of the contract, but to prove that an independent, collateral, contemporaneous agreement was entered into, by which Runk stipulated that he would not die by his own act, whether sane or insane, during the period of two years. The objection to this evidence was sustained; Judge Butler, who presided at the trial in the circuit court, observing: 'The representation or statement or agreement (call it by whatever name you choose) is, in my estimation, a part of the application for insurance; and it constitutes a condition on which the policy was applied for and obtained,—as much so as any representation contained in the paper itself; and, it is therefore, by the statute, excluded, by reason of the fact that a copy was not attached to the policy. * * * The statute intended that the policy shall exhibit on its face, or the policy, in connection with whatever it refers to, shall exhibit to the insured, the conditions on which he holds the policy. The object of this would be to limit the policy of insurance, to qualify it, to make it available only in case the party lived up to this contract.'

The statute of Pennsylvania to which reference was made is in these words: 'That all life and fire insurance policies upon the lives or property of persons within this commonwealth whether issued by companies organized under the laws of this state, or by foreign companies doing business therein, which contain any reference to the application of the insured, or the constitution, by-laws or other rules of the company either as forming part of the policy or contract between the parties thereto, or having any bearing on said contract, shall contain, or have attached to said policies, correct copies of the application, as signed by the applicant, and the by-laws referred to; and, unless so attached and accompanying the policy, no such application, constitution or by-laws shall be received in evidence, in any controversy between the parties to, or interested in, the said policy, nor shall such application or by-laws be considered a part of the policy or contract between such parties.' Laws Pa. 1881, p. 20.

Whether the circuit court erred in excluding the application, which, by the terms of the contract, constituted the consideration of the company's promise to pay, is a question that need not be considered. If error was committed in this particular, it was one for the benefit of the plaintiff in the action; for, if the application had been admitted in evidence as part of the contract of insurance, the agreement and warranty of the assured not to die by his own act, whether sane or insane, within two years from the date of the policy, would have precluded any judgment against the insurance company. Insurance Co. v. McConkey, 127 U. S. 661, 666, 8 Sup. Ct. 1360. Upon this writ of error, therefore, we must assume that the contract of insurance contained no such agreement or warranty by the assured, nor any express condition avoiding the policy in case of suicide. Besides, the defendant does not insist that this court should determine the rights of the parties upon the basis that the application of Runk constituted part of the contract of insurance. It may be added that we do not wish to be understood as expressing any opinion upon the question whether the circuit court erred either in its construction of the Pennsylvania statute of 1881, or in applying that statute to the policies here in suit.

At the trial in the circuit court the plaintiff submitted the following points:

(1) The evidence was not sufficient to warrant the jury in finding that the deceased entered into the contracts of insurance evidenced by the policies sued upon with the intention of defrauding the company.

(2) The evidence was not sufficient to warrant the jury in finding that the deceased entered into the contracts of insurance with the intention of committing suicide.

(3) The evidence upon the part of the defendant did not warrant any inference of fact...