Lane v. Lane

• Decision Date: 30 October 1897
• Citation: 42 S.W. 1058,99 Tenn. 639
• Parties: LANE v. LANE.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

42 S.W. 1058

99 Tenn. 639

LANE v. LANE.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

October 30, 1897

Appeal from chancery court, Knox county; H. B. Lindsay, Chancellor.

Bill by Lizzie Lane against S. L. Lane. A decree for defendant was affirmed by the court of chancery appeals, and complainant appeals. Affirmed.

Taylor & Roberts, for appellant.

Green & Shields and T. L. Carty, for appellee.

McALISTER J.

This is a contest over the proceeds of a benefit certificate in the American Legion of Honor, which is being waged between the widow and brother, respectively, of a deceased member. W. A Lane, now deceased, became a member of the American Legion of Honor by connecting himself with a council of the order located at Knoxville. The American Legion of Honor was incorporated under the laws of the state of Massachusetts for the following benevolent purposes, to wit. "First. To unite fraternally all persons of sound bodily health and good moral character, who are socially acceptable, between 18 and 65 years of age. Second. To give all moral and material aid in its power to its members and those dependent upon it. Third. To educate its members socially, morally, and intellectually. Fourth. To establish a fund for the relief of sick and distressed members. Fifth. To establish a benefit fund, from which, on satisfactory evidence of the death of a member of the order, who has complied with all its lawful requirements, a sum not exceeding $5,000 shall be paid to the family, orphans, or dependents, as the member may direct." Among the by-laws of the order, law 133 provides that members in good standing may surrender their benefit certificates, and have new ones issued, subject to the provisions of the by-laws; such change to be made upon petition to the supreme secretary, signed by the member desiring to make the change, attested by the secretary under the seal of the council in accordance with the form provided. Each petition shall fix a time when the change of beneficiary shall take effect. When no time is stated, such change shall take effect on the date of the delivery of the application for change to the secretary of the council. The record discloses that on the 25th May, 1892, the American Legion of Honor issued a benefit certificate to W. A. Lane for the sum of $2,000, payable at his death to his wife Mrs. Lizzie Lane the present complainant. This certificate was delivered to her, and she kept it until October, 1892, when her husband called for it. He surrendered it to the order, and upon his application, in writing, another certificate was issued, payable to his brother, the respondent, S. L. Lane. W. A. Lane, the assured died July 1, 1896. The record further shows that at the time the second certificate was issued W. A. Lane was in bad health, and unable to pay his dues. His brother agreed to keep the second certificate alive, and aid in the support of W. A. Lane's family. This agreement, the court of appeals finds, S. L. Lane faithfully kept and performed. W. A. Lane, the assured, died while in good standing in the order, with the certificate payable to his brother outstanding and in force against the order.

The court of chancery appeals, upon the facts stated, held that the beneficiaries of members in such orders, where, under their laws, the members have the right to surrender their certificates and take out others, have no vested interests or rights in the same. That court adjudged that the brother, under the second certificate, made payable to him, was entitled to the fund, and dismissed complainant's bill, affirming the decree of the chancellor. This holding was in accord with the settled law on this subject, and with numerous adjudications of this court. We held in Sofge v. Supreme Lodge (decided at Nashville, at last term) 39 S.W. 853, that: "Who shall be the beneficiaries of their members, under such certificates of insurance, is, in the absence of a statute, determined by their laws, so long as they do not violate some public policy of the state. When, therefore, a benefit certificate issued by an order of this character is called in or canceled in conformity to its laws, it ceases to have any legal existence, and the substituted certificate can alone be recognized." In that case we said: "It is wholly immaterial to inquire why the certificate was canceled,-whether upon sufficient or insufficient reasons; so long as complainant had no vested interest in it, such considerations are wholly apart from the real controversy in the case." So long as the certificate itself, as well as the rules of the order, reserve to the assured the ultimate right of cancellation and disposition of the certificate, the beneficiary can have only a mere expectancy or inchoate gift, revocable at any moment by the act of the assured. Tennessee Lodge v. Ladd, 5 Lea, 720; Catholic Knights v. Kuhn, 91 Tenn. 214, 18 S.W. 385; Association v. Winn, 96 Tenn. 227, 33 S.W. 1045; Handwerker v. Diermeyer, 96 Tenn. 619, 36 S.W. 869; Sofge v. Supreme Lodge (April, 1897) 39 S.W. 853.

Complainant assigns as error the action of court of chancery appeals in sustaining the decree of the chancellor refusing to allow an amendment to the bill offered at the hearing. The amendment offered charged that defendant, S. L. Lane, brother of deceased, was not a relation or person dependent upon W. A Lane, deceased, within the contemplation of the by-laws and charter of the American Legion of Honor, and could not, therefore, be a beneficiary in his policy, the by-laws requiring that the beneficiary...