Cason v. Owens

Citation100 Ga. 142,28 S.E. 75
PartiesCASON et al. v. OWENS.
Decision Date21 January 1897
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia

Insurance—Fraudulent Change of Beneficiaries—Parties.

1. A declaration filed by children against the mother, which recites that a deceased father procured a policy of life insurance, in which the children were named as beneficiaries, but which, during the life of the father, and while he was non compos mentis, he was induced to change by fraud and undue influence of his wife, so as to make her sole beneficiary, and alleging the death of the father and the collection of the policy by the mother, sets forth a good cause of action, and should not have been dismissed on demurrer.

2. The only necessary parties to such an action were the children (the original beneficiaries) and the mother, who collected and retained the amount of the policy.

(Syllabus by the Court.)

Error from city court of Atlanta; Howard Van Epps, Judge.

The following is the official report: Suit was brought in the city court of Atlanta by May Pauline Cason and Charles and Frank Owens, minor children of Pat. H. Owens, deceased (said May Pauline suing by her husband, as her next friend, and praying that he or some other proper person be appointed guardian ad litem for said Charles and Frank), against Ruth C, their mother, and the widow of Pat. H. Owens, to recover money, with interest, alleged to be due them on certain insurance policies. It was alleged that Pat. H. Owens was holding policies on his life in certain insurance or benefit or assessment companies to the amount of $7,500, payable to his said three children as beneficiaries, —one of them, for $3,000, being in the company called the "Golden Chain"; that shortly before his death, on March 17, 1882, the policies being in force and valid, said Ruth C, by undue Influence and with intent to defraud plaintiffs, induced Pat H. to change the beneficiaries of the policies, and to name Ruth C. as the sole beneficiary in the same; that, at the time he made this change, he was without sufficient mind to do business and to understand that particular act, and he was influenced to make said change by the fraud of Ruth C., wherefore said change of beneficiaries is null and void, and plaintiffs, in law and fact, are the real beneficiaries, and entitled to all the proceeds of the policies; and that, after his death, Ruth C. collected all of the money on said policies, amounting to $7,500, and now has possession of the same, and claims that it is her own, and that plaintiffs have no interest therein. The defendant demurred for want of proper parties, jurisdiction of the subject-matter, and a cause of action. The demurrer was sustained, and plaintiffs excepted. [Reversed.]

W. T. Moyers, John C. Reed, and E. P. Wood, for plaintiffs in error.

Thos. W. Latham and Geo. P. Roberts, for defendant in error.

LITTLE, J. The official report sufliciently states the facts.

1. An insurance on life is a contract, by which the insurer, for a stipulated sum, engages to pay a certain amount of money if another dies within the time limited by the policy. The insured may direct the money to be paid to his personal representatives, or to his wife, or to his children, or to his assignees; and upon such direction given, and assented to by the insurer, no other person can defeat the same. Code 1882, §§ 2818, 2820. Unless some disability to contract exists at the time, and be averred, it will be presumed that every person Is able and has the right to enter into a contract of this character for the benefit of another person having an insurable interest in his life, whom he wishes to aid. The contract is legal and of a character much to be commended. The person procuring the insurance to be written has the right to name the beneficiary; and, when so named, it is a contract inuring to the benefit of the beneficiary, with the right existing in the person who procured the insurance, or whose life is insured, as the case may be, to change the beneficiaries named in the contract, under such rules and regulations as have been adopted.

In the case under review, the petition alleges that the father of the plaintiffs in error procured a contract of Insurance upon his life for the sum of $7,500, and that the plaintiffs, his children, were named as the beneficiaries thereunder....

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10 cases
  • Arnold v. Empire Mut. Annuity & Life Ins. Co.
    • United States
    • United States Court of Appeals (Georgia)
    • February 24, 1908
    ......This principle has been settled in. this state ever since the decision in Smith v. Head, . 75 Ga. 755, was impliedly recognized in Cason v. Owens, 100 Ga. 143, 28 S.E. 75, and was expressly. reaffirmed in Perry v. Tweedy, 128 Ga. 402, 57 S.E. 782. If the policy itself had ......
  • Arnold v. Empire Mut. Annuity & Life Ins. Co
    • United States
    • United States Court of Appeals (Georgia)
    • February 24, 1908
    ......This principle has been settled in this state ever since the decision in Smith v. Head, 75 Ga. 755, was impliedly recognized in Cason v. Owens, 100 Ga. 143, 28 S. E. 75, and was expressly reaffirmed in Perry v. Tweedy, 128 Ga. 402, 57 S. E. 782. If the policy itself had ......
  • Cobb v. Justice, 10-96-212-CV
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Texas
    • October 8, 1997
    ...of America, 34 Del. Ch. 207, 101 A.2d 321, 323 (1953); Beatty v. Strickland, 136 Fla. 330, 186 So. 542, 544 (1939); Cason v. Owens, 100 Ga. 142, 28 S.E. 75, 76-77 (1897); Munroe v. Beggs, 91 Kan. 701, 139 P. 422, 423-24 (1914); Daugherty v. Daugherty, 152 Ky. 732, 154 S.W. 9, 10 (1913); Nor......
  • Ryan v. Woman's Ben. Ass'n of Maccabees
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Missouri (US)
    • November 1, 1921
    ...J. 337; Cass County v. Mercantile, etc., Ins. Co., 188 Mo. 1, 14, 86 S. W. 237; St. Louis Drug Co. v. Robinson, 81 Mo. 18; Cason v. Owens, 100 Ga. 142, 28 S. E. 75. In Grand Lodge, etc., v. McFadden, 213 Mo. 269, 111 S. W. 1172, it was held that, although insured's wife had no agreement wit......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • Commercial Law - Robert A. Weber, Jr.
    • United States
    • Mercer University School of Law Mercer Law Reviews No. 53-1, September 2001
    • Invalid date
    .... Id. at 305-06, 551 S.E.2d at 425. 113. . Id. at 303-04, 551 S.E.2d at 424. 114. . Id. at 305, 551 S.E.2d at 424 (citing Cason v. Owens, 100 Ga. 142, 28 S.E. 75 (1897)). 115. . Id. See O.C.G.A. Sec. 7-1-815 (1997). 116. . See generally Sullivan v. Sullivan, 273 Ga. 130, 539 S.E.2d 120 (200......

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