Equitable Life Assur. Soc. of the U.S. of America v. Mcree

• Decision Date: 13 February 1918
• Parties: EQUITABLE LIFE ASSUR. SOC. OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. McREE.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

78 So. 22

75 Fla. 257

EQUITABLE LIFE ASSUR. SOC. OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. McREE.

Florida Supreme Court

February 13, 1918

Error to Circuit Court, Hillsborough County; F. M. Robles, Judge.

Action by Jules McRee, an infant, by his next friend, M. S. McRee against the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States of America. Demurrers to pleas sustained, and judgment entered for plaintiff, and defendant brings error. Reversed.

Syllabus by the Court

SYLLABUS

The statutes of Florida have no force as such beyond the limits of the state.

A life insurance policy which by its terms does not become a completed contract until delivery on payment of first premium is to be construed as a contract made in the state where the first premium is paid and the policy delivered.

Section 3154, Gen. St. 1906, does not affect the rights of an insurer under a contract made in another state; and neither the law nor the public policy of this state forbids the payment of the proceeds of insurance policies to an administrator of a person who dies in this state while a resident of and domiciled therein, when the policy contracts are made in another state without reference to the laws of this state and such contracts expressly provide that the policies shall be payable to the administrator of the insured, and payment to the administrator of the insured is authorized by the law of such other state.

COUNSEL John C. Cooper & Son, of Jacksonville, for plaintiff in error.

Dickenson & Dickenson and S. V. Ray, all of Tampa, for defendant in error.

OPINION

WHITFIELD, J.

The amended declaration herein is as follows:

'Jules McRee, an infant, plaintiff, by his next friend, M. S McRee, by his attorneys, Hill, Hill, Whiting & Stern Dickenson & Dickenson, and S. V. Ray, sues the Equitable Life Assurance Society, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of New York, defendant, which has been summoned to answer the plaintiff in a civil action for that whereas,

'Heretofore, to wit, on the 24th day of July, 1896, in consideration of the payment by Julius S. McRee of the sum of $184.10, and of the like sum on the 14th day of July of every year thereafter during the continuance of the policy of insurance, the defendant made and delivered to Julius S. McRee its policies of insurance on the life of the said Julius S. McRee, two in number, each for $2,500, and thereby insured the life of the said Julius S. McRee in the sum of $5,000, said policies at the time of issuance made payable to Eugenia G. McRee, wife of the said Julius S. McRee, but thereafter, to wit, on the 26th day of June, 1906, while the said Julius S. McRee was a resident of and domiciled in the state of Florida, the defendant, at the direction of the insured, changed the beneficiary of said policies of insurance, making the same payable after the death of the said Julius S. McRee to his executors, administrators, or assigns; that the said Julius S. McRee duly fulfilled all the conditions of said insurance on his part, including the payment of premiums as aforesaid; that prior to the time of his death the said Julius S. McRee borrowed from the defendant the sum of $600, contracting with said defendant that, should he die before the repayment of said loan to the defendant, his said policies of insurance should be charged therewith, and thereafter, on the --- day of -----, 1909, died intestate at Tampa, Fla., leaving as his only heirs at law his wife, Eugenia G. McRee, and his son, Jules McRee, the plaintiff herein; that upon the death of the said Julius S. McRee, as aforesaid, there became due and payable under the terms of the said policies of insurance from the said defendant the sum of $1,872.54 each, or a total of $3,745.08, and by reason of his heirship this plaintiff became and was entitled upon the death of the said Julius S. McRee, to one-half of any and all sums due from the defendant upon the said policies of insurance, with lawful interest thereon from the time the same became so due and payable, together with a reasonable sum as fees and compensation for the plaintiff's attorneys in prosecuting this suit, all of which will more fully appear by copies of the said policies of insurance, which are attached hereto and made a part of this declaration.

'But this plaintiff has not been paid the said sum or sums of money, or any part thereof, by the said defendant, wherefore he brings his suit and claims the sum of $3,000 damages.'

Each of the life insurance policies referred to in the declaration contained the following provisions:

'The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States hereby assures the life of Julius S. McRee, of Montgomery, Ala., hereinafter known as the assured, and on receipt of satisfactory proofs of his death, providing this policy is then in force, agrees to pay twenty-five hundred dollars, at its office in the city of New York, to Eugenia G. McRee hereinafter known as the beneficiary, wife of the assured, or in the event of her prior death, to the assured's executors, administrators or assigns, subject to the right of the assured to change the beneficiary.

'This assurance is granted in consideration of the written and printed application for this policy, which is hereby made a part of this contract, and of the payment in advance of ninety-two 5/100 dollars, and of the payment of a like sum on or before the 14th day of July in every year thereafter, until premiums for twenty years have been duly paid, or until the prior death of the assured.'

'VII. Privilege of Changing Beneficiary.--This policy is issued with the express understanding that the assured may, providing this policy has not been assigned, change the beneficiary, or beneficiaries, at any time during the continuance of this policy, by filing with the secretary a written request duly acknowledged, accompanied by this policy; such change to take effect upon the indorsement of the same on the policy by the society.'

The defendant filed twenty-five pleas to the amended declaration, the first three being: (1) Never was indebted as alleged; (2) did not promise as alleged; (3) payment. One special plea denied:

'That the said Julius S. McRee was a resident of and domiciled in the state of Florida when the defendant, at the direction of the insured, changed the beneficiaries of said policies of insurance, making the same payable after the death of the said Julius S. McRee to his executors, administrators, or assigns, but avers the truth to be that the said Julius S. McRee was at the time the defendant changed the beneficiaries of said policies of insurance, at the direction of the insured, making the same payable after the death of the said Julius S. McRee, to his executors, administrators, or assigns, a resident of and domiciled in the state of Georgia, that the request for the said change was made by said McRee in the state of Georgia, and that payment has been made to the beneficiary named in the policies as changed according to the law of Georgia.'

Other special pleas in effect set up that the policies were contracts made in the state of Alabama to be performed in the state of New York, that the beneficiary of the policies was changed by the insured by a request made by him in the state of Georgia while he was a resident of and domiciled in the state of Georgia, and that they were discharged by payment to the beneficiary named in the policies, and who was entitled to receive the same according to the laws of the state of Alabama, in which they were made, and according to the laws of the state of Georgia, where the insured lived and was when he changed the beneficiary of the policies, as well as according to the laws of the state of New York, in which the contracts were to be performed by the insured.

The pleas further aver:

That the law of Alabama and of New York 'provides and requires that when policies of insurance similar to those sued on are made payable to the assured's executors, administrators or assigns, the sums to be paid under said policies of insurance are to be paid to the assured's executors, administrators, or assigns, upon the death of the assured on proper proofs of such death,' and that by the law of Georgia the insured 'may direct the money to be paid to his personal representatives, or to his widow, or to his children, or to assignees; and upon such direction, given and assented to by the insurer, no other...