Brotherhood of Locomotive F. and E. v. Hogan

• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota
• Writing for the Court: Smith & Coughlin, of Faribault, Minn., for defendants Mayme Hogan and James P. Kennedy
• Citation: Brotherhood of Locomotive F. and E. v. Hogan, 5 F.Supp. 598 (D. Minn. 1934)
• Decision Date: 25 January 1934
• Docket Number: No. 2712.,2712.
• Parties: BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN v. HOGAN et al.

5 F. Supp. 598

BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE FIREMEN AND ENGINEMEN v. HOGAN et al.

No. 2712.

District Court, D. Minnesota, Third Division.

January 25, 1934.

Smith & Coughlin, of Faribault, Minn., for defendants Mayme Hogan and James P. Kennedy.

Elliott, Coursolle & Kelly, of Minneapolis, Minn., and Padden & Moriarty, of Seattle, Wash., for defendants Leo Mondt, James G. Mondt, Lloyd Mondt, and Pearl Mondt Hardwick.

NORDBYE, District Judge.

This matter came before the court on the pleadings and stipulated facts. The issues presented involve the respective claims of these defendants to a certain insurance fund paid into court.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, a citizen and resident of the state of Ohio, filed its bill of interpleader in this court. The defendant Mayme Hogan resides in Hayward, Wis. James P. Kennedy resides in Faribault, Minn. The other defendants all reside in Seattle, Wash. Plaintiff is a fraternal beneficiary society, which on January 1, 1907, issued and delivered to one John W. Kennedy, of Seattle, Wash., its beneficiary certificate No. A-21018, whereby it promised to pay to the designated beneficiary of the insured, or to his next of kin, in designated classes, the sum of $1,500, less funeral expenses in the sum of $225 when guaranteed by the local lodge. The beneficiary designated in the certificate when it was issued was Mrs. Mary Kennedy, whose relation to insured was that of wife. The date of their marriage does not appear, but the record does disclose that Mary Kennedy had been married before and had four children by her former marriage. These four children are the defendants Leo Mondt, James G. Mondt, Lloyd Mondt, and Pearl Mondt Hardwick. The relationship of stepchildren and stepfather came into existence between these defendants and the insured by reason of the marriage of Mary Kennedy and John W. Kennedy. No children were born as the result of this latter marriage. On March 16, 1907, some two and one-half months after the policy was issued, Mary Kennedy divorced her husband, John W. Kennedy. The record is silent as to the then whereabouts or disposition of the stepchildren. Whether the said children ever lived in the family with John W. Kennedy does not appear, nor is the court informed as to the ages of these stepchildren. Subsequent to the divorce from John W. Kennedy, Mary Kennedy married one Bert Benson, and, as far as the record indicates, was the wife of Bert Benson when she predeceased John W. Kennedy. The date of the marriage, however, between Mary Kennedy and Bert Benson does not appear. Mary Kennedy Benson died on December 28, 1931. John W. Kennedy died on October 17, 1932. The beneficiary in the policy designated as Mary Kennedy was never changed. At the time of his death, Kennedy was unmarried and had no natural children. His father and mother were dead, and the only kin by blood surviving him are the defendants Mayme Hogan and James P. Kennedy, sister and brother, respectively. All these defendants claim the proceeds of the beneficiary certificate issued to John W. Kennedy as next of kin under the constitution of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen. On petition of the plaintiff, the proceeds of the policy, less expenses and attorneys' fees, were paid into court, and the defendants were required to interplead and set up their respective claims to this fund. Answers in interpleader were filed, and the matter was submitted to the court upon the bill of interpleader and a stipulation which covered article 8 of the constitution of the brotherhood. The section of the constitution covered by the stipulation reads as follows:

"Article 8

"Beneficiary and Disability Benefit Departments

"Beneficiary.

"Who May Participate

"Sec. 1. (a) The Grand Lodge shall establish and maintain a department to be known as the Beneficiary Department of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.

"(b) All members who are eligible shall be required to participate in the Beneficiary Department, for the purpose of providing an insurance to be paid, (1) upon the death of a member to one or more of the prescribed beneficiaries, or (2) to the member who sustains a loss or who reaches the age of seventy (70) years as set forth in Section 14, this Article.

"(c) A member may designate as his beneficiary or beneficiaries one or more persons of the following class, and no other, viz: wife, child or children, mother, father, sisters, brothers, blood relations, or persons dependent upon him for support, and in the event that a member has no wife or children living, he may then designate as a beneficiary a charitable institution, or he may designate that the amount of his beneficiary certificate be used for his own funeral expenses. A sick benefit department of a subordinate lodge is not a legal beneficiary.

"(d) If the beneficiary is a minor the fund must be paid to the duly appointed guardian, but should there be no legally designated beneficiary, then the fund shall be paid, subject to the provisions of this Constitution bearing thereon, as follows, in the order named:

"First: to the widow; second, to the child or children; third, to the mother; fourth, to the father; fifth, sisters and brothers equally.

"(e) Should there be none of the last named class of persons living and there is no beneficiary named in the certificate who is entitled to the amount thereof, the proceeds shall belong, and revert, to the beneficiary Fund, provided that when a lodge guarantees funeral expenses, the amount guaranteed by the lodge up to $225.00, shall be paid to the financial secretary of said lodge, and provided further, the General Secretary and Treasurer is authorized to pay reasonable funeral expenses from the proceeds of the certificate.

"(f) The designation of any person or persons in the certificate by a member as his beneficiary or beneficiaries, shall not in any way constitute a contract between this organization and said person or persons, neither shall such designation give any person who may be so designated any legal, equitable or vested right or interest to such certificate or to the proceeds thereof, but according to the provisions of the Constitution, funeral expenses to reimburse a subordinate lodge for such amount as it may expend in the burial of a member not in excess of $225 may be deducted from the amount due on the certificate.

"(g) The term of child or children shall include stepchildren and legally adopted children. The term father and mother shall include stepfather and stepmother, fosterfather and fostermother when dependent, and the term brothers and sisters shall include half-brothers and halfsisters, but shall not include stepbrothers or stepsisters."

"Change of Beneficiary

"Sec. 11. (a) A member desiring to change his beneficiary, shall make such change in writing on the form printed on the back of the beneficiary certificate, and such change can be made without the consent of the beneficiary. Said certificate must be forwarded to the General Secretary and Treasurer by the member.

"(b) Beneficiaries shall not have, nor shall they acquire a legal, equitable or vested interest in, or to said certificate, or the proceeds thereof, so as to prevent any member from changing his beneficiary."

It will be noted the constitution provides that, in the event there is no legally designated beneficiary, the fund shall be paid: First, to the widow; second, to the child or children; third, to the mother; fourth, to the father; and, fifth, sisters and brothers, equally. The constitution further provides that "the term of child or children shall include stepchildren and legally adopted children." If the children of Mary Kennedy were stepchildren of John W. Kennedy at the time of his death, regardless of the divorce between the parties, and the subsequent marriage of their mother, then it would seem that such defendants are entitled to the proceeds of the certificate, otherwise the brother and sister, according to the constitution, are the beneficiaries.

Webster's New International Dictionary defines "stepchild" as follows: "A child of one's wife or husband by a former marriage." "Step" is defined to be a prefix denoting relationship through marriage only of a parent, and not by blood.

The relationship between John W. Kennedy and Mary Kennedy's children that came into being by reason of this marriage became one of affinity, as distinguished from consanguinity. The term in the policy "child or children" denotes the relationship, and the age of the child does not in any way affect the right to participate in this fund. It may be assumed that on this record, if the marriage relationship between the Kennedys had not been dissolved, the stepchildren of the insured would, under the constitution, be entitled to the benefits of the insurance. The question presented to the court, however, is whether or not the relationship of stepfather and stepchildren was extinguished by the subsequent decree of divorce which absolutely dissolved the marriage relationship which gave rise to the kinship of affinity.

No reference is made, nor is there any evidence furnished, as to any statute of the state of Ohio, the residence of the plaintiff, nor of the state of Illinois, where plaintiff apparently was domiciled when this policy was issued. Nor is there any other reference made to the by-laws or constitution of the plaintiff, except as hereinbefore stated.

It may be gathered, however, that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen has established a beneficiary department for the purpose of providing protection by way of insurance for its members. It will be noted that the beneficiaries are limited to the wife, child or children, mother, father, sister, brother, blood relations, or persons dependent upon the insured for support. The divorce between the Kennedys was granted some twenty-five years before Kennedy's death. The right to participate as...