Beasely v. Mutual Aid Association, United Brothers of Friendship And Sisters of Mysterious Ten

• Decision Date: 18 April 1910
• Parties: BEASELY v. MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION, UNITED BROTHERS OF FRIENDSHIP AND SISTERS OF MYSTERIOUS TEN
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

127 S.W. 974

94 Ark. 499

BEASELY v. MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION, UNITED BROTHERS OF FRIENDSHIP AND SISTERS OF MYSTERIOUS TEN

Supreme Court of Arkansas

April 18, 1910

Appeal from Jefferson Circuit Court; Antonio B. Grace, Judge affirmed.

Judgment affirmed.

Taylor & Jones, for appellant.

Letters written by officers of the association discussing plaintiff's claim are not competent evidence. Bacon on Ben. Soc. § 467; 131 Ill. 498. Parol evidence is always admissible to establish fraud. 1 Story, 135. There is no authority in the contract for making such change of beneficiary. 55 Ark. 212; 52 Ark. 202. Relief must be granted according to the terms of the contract. 71 Ark. 301.

White & Alexander, for appellee.

The fund paid into court is not such a fund as should be made the subject-matter of interpleader. 3 Pom Eq. Jur. 1322; 66 L.R.A. 89. The records of a corporation cannot be contradicted or varied by parol. 38 Mass. 288; 101 Cal. 70; 63 Mass. 338; 57 Am. D. 50; 61 N.H. 418; 37 Vt. 40. A party may be authorized by the policy, or by the constitution and bylaws which are made a part of the contract, to change the beneficiary. 55 Ark. 212; 71 Ark. 301. The constitution and bylaws are a part of the contract between the parties. 81 Ark. 512; 80 Ark. 419.

OPINION

BATTLE, J.

Willis Beasely, the husband of Lula Beasely and father of Bertha Beasely, was a member of a subordinate lodge of the United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of Mysterious Ten, called Pine Bluff Lodge No. 1. This order was a chartered mutual aid association, and issued to a member, when he joined, a certificate in which it agreed to pay, upon the death of such member, to any person named as beneficiary in the certificate the sum of $ 225 in accordance with the laws of the order.

After Willis Beasely became a member of the association, it issued to him such a certificate, in which his wife, Lula Beasely was named a beneficiary. Under the bylaws of the order any member in open lodge may, by asking, change the name of the beneficiary in the certificate issued to him. On the 17th day of August, 1908, Willis Beasely, in open lodge, caused the name of the beneficiary in his certificate to be changed from Lula Beasely to Bertha Beasely. On the 10th day of November 1908, Willis Beasely, while he was in good standing with the subordinate lodge and the association, departed this life. Proof of his death was made to the Pine Bluff Lodge and the association. Lula Beasely then demanded the $ 225 of the association, but it refused to pay. Mrs. Beasely then brought an action against Mutual Aid Association, United Brothers of Friendship and Sisters of Mysterious Ten. The defendant answered, and among other things stated that, since the death of the deceased, Bertha Beasely had presented a claim for the sum named in the certificate, claiming it as beneficiary, that the money was due, and it was willing to pay it to whom it belonged; and asked that Bertha Beasely be made a party to the action, that it be permitted to pay the money into court, and that Bertha be required to appear within a reasonable time and maintain or relinquish her claim to the same.

Bertha was made a party, and required to appear in court within twenty days and maintain or relinquish her claim to the fund, which the defendant was ordered to pay into court. Bertha Beasely then appeared, and answered, stating that the association executed and delivered its certain certificate of insurance upon the life of Willis Beasely, and named her as the beneficiary therein, and thereby promised to pay to her the sum of $ 225 upon the death of Willis Beasely, which occurred on the 10th day of November, 1908; that proof of his death had been made and filed with the defendant in the mode and manner prescribed by the order; that the certificate in which Lula Beasely was named beneficiary had been cancelled; and that she (Bertha) was entitled to the fund paid in court.

The jury, trying the issues made by the pleadings and evidence adduced by the parties in the trial, returned a verdict in favor of Bertha Beasely for the $ 225 paid into court, and the court rendered judgment in her favor for that amount, and plaintiff appealed.

It was proved that a certificate for $ 225 was issued to Willis Beasely, in which Lula Beasely was named the beneficiary. It was also proved by the record of the Pine Bluff Lodge No. 1, of the association, that the beneficiary in the certificate was changed to Bertha Beasely, on motion of Willis Beasely, in open lodge, in accordance with the bylaws of the association.

In the course of the trial appellant offered the following evidence:

"Now we offer to show by Mack Sheppard, in addition to the testimony given by him and also by Black Waterhouse, that they were in the lodge on the night of the 17th of August 1908, in Pine Bluff with Willis Beasely, now deceased. That Willis Beasely in open lodge asked the lodge to...