Coleman v. United States, 9908.

• Citation: 85 US App. DC 145,176 F.2d 469
• Decision Date: 06 June 1949
• Docket Number: No. 9908.,9908.
• Parties: COLEMAN v. UNITED STATES et al.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia)

85 US App. DC 145, 176 F.2d 469 (1949)

COLEMAN v. UNITED STATES et al.

No. 9908.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued April 11, 1949.

Decided June 6, 1949.

Mr. Warren E. Miller, Washington, D. C., with whom Mr. David S. Allshouse, Washington, D. C. was on the brief, for appellant.

Mr. James T. Clark, Washington, D. C., with whom Mr. Roger Ratcliff, Washington, D. C. was on the brief, for appellee Coleman.

Messrs. George Morris Fay, United States Attorney, and Thomas E. Walsh, Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. entered appearances for appellee United States.

Before CLARK and PROCTOR, Circuit Judges and ARTHUR F. LEDERLE, District Judge, sitting by designation.

LEDERLE, District Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment determining that defendant-appellee, Mabel Gertrude Coleman, the mother of Lieut. Charles Edward Coleman, deceased, is entitled to the proceeds of a $10,000.00 National Service Life Insurance Policy as against plaintiff-appellant, Betty Carole Coleman, his widow. Plaintiff sought herein to establish that said insured, prior to his death, had changed the designation of beneficiary on this insurance policy from the original named primary beneficiary, defendant-appellee, his mother, to the name of plaintiff-appellant, his wife. The United States Government is a disinterested stakeholder.

The case was tried in the District Court without a jury, after which the trial court filed a memorandum, later reduced to formal findings of fact and conclusions of law. In these, the trial court found as an ultimate fact that there had been no change of beneficiary from appellee-mother to appellant-wife. These findings were supported by the trial court's correct analysis of the evidence, which was as follows, viz: While unmarried and in service as an Air Corps Cadet, the insured applied for and received on November 13, 1942, a $10,000.00 National Service Life Insurance Policy, bearing No. N-6161643, in which he named as principal beneficiary, his mother, and as contingent beneficiary, his father. This policy was delivered to his mother at her home while insured was present. At that time his parents were separated and about to be divorced, and his mother was employed. Under Government regulations, the premiums on this policy were paid by the Government during the time that insured remained non-commissioned and thereafter premiums were chargeable to his personal account. On October 1, 1943, insured was commissioned as a second lieutenant, at which time he listed his mother as principal dependent and emergency addressee. Four days later, on October 5, 1943, insured and the appellant were married. The insured left for overseas duty about January 30, 1944, and was killed in action on March 23, 1944. The insured had never discussed with his wife the subject of this insurance. He had discussed the matter with his mother a number of times and with a family friend, and, in these discussions, had stated that the insurance would be paid to his mother in event of casualty because she was in need of financial assistance for the support of herself and a younger son and that his wife would receive his gratuity pay and a pension. There was no proof that any change of insurance beneficiary form had ever been signed by insured or that he had ever asked for such a form. Plaintiff-appellee relied principally upon an AGO No. 41 form, executed by insured on December 20, 1943, in which he named his wife, Mrs. Betty H. Coleman, as the person eligible to be his gratuity beneficiary, with his mother and younger brother as secondary contingent beneficiaries, and Government Insurance Report Form, dated January 29, 1944, addressed to Mrs. Betty Carole Coleman, signed by deceased, in which the following statement appeared: "On date of Oct. 1, 1943, I took out $10,000 in (National Service Life Insurance) (United States Government Insurance) naming you as my beneficiary. To cover the cost of this insurance, I have authorized a monthly deduction from my pay of $6.50."

Army officers testified that the AGO No. 41 form was the same form as had been signed by each of the millions of military men who served in the last war, and that its purpose was to designate the legal beneficiary to receive his accrued pay and six months' "gratuity pay" in event of his death. Under such designation in this case, appellant-wife received at insured's death his pay arrearage amounting to $782.30 and his six months' gratuity amounting to $1485.00. She also receives a $60.00 a month widow's pension. Army Officers...