ACACIA MUT. LIFE ASS'N v. Walker, Civ. No. 165.
| Decision Date | 06 July 1942 |
| Docket Number | Civ. No. 165. |
| Parties | ACACIA MUT. LIFE ASS'N v. WALKER et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of West Virginia |
Maxwell W. Flesher, of Huntington, for intervening petitioner Willis Funeral Home, Inc.
McDaniel Purcell, of Huntington, for defendants R. P. Asbury, administrator, and Donald Saunders.
The only issue remaining in this case is whether the Willis Funeral Home, the undertaker who buried Milton Walker, deceased, is limited to recovery of only $300 under West Virginia law, or is entitled to recover $830.02, the full amount of its funeral bill, from the proceeds of a life insurance policy carried by Walker.
At the time of his death the beneficiary of the insurance policy was "my nephew, Donald Saunders, after my Funeral expenses are paid out of same. * * *" Donald Saunders and the administrator admit that $830.02 was a fair and reasonable charge for the funeral services rendered, but say (1) the funeral was too elaborate for a man with an estate of only about $5,700, and (2) the undertaker is limited to recovery of only $300 out of such insurance money by reason of Ch. 44, Art. 2, Sec. 6 of the West Virginia Code, which reads, in part, as follows: "* * * Provided, however, That where funeral expenses of a decedent exceed three hundred dollars, his estate shall not be liable for the excess, unless his personal representative, after qualification, ratifies in writing the contract under which such excess expenses were incurred."
Petitioner filed its claim for the full amount of its bill before the commissioner of accounts charged with settling the estate, but only $300 was allowed as a charge against the estate because the administrator refused to ratify the balance of the bill. Thereafter, the sum of $300 was paid out of the estate on the funeral bill by the administrator. On the theory that the funeral director was a beneficiary of the insurance, the estate was subsequently reimbursed out of the insurance money by payment of a like sum to the administrator. Petitioner now seeks to recover the balance of its bill of $530.02 out of the insurance money paid into court.
It is clear that the West Virginia statute does not say that a funeral bill for more than $300 is illegal or improper, but simply limits the liability of an estate to $300 where the funeral bill exceeds that amount, unless the surplus is ratified by the administrator. The commissioner quite properly limited the liability of the...
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...of a life insurance policy payable to a named beneficiary constitutes no part of the estate of the insured. Acacia Mut. Life Ins. Ass'n v. Walker, D.C., 45 F. Supp. 756. The Supreme Court of Louisiana has held that somewhat similar statutes prohibiting gifts to a paramour, as well as a lega......
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