Melton v. Royal Highlanders

• Decision Date: 19 September 1922
• Docket Number: 34332
• Citation: 189 N.W. 787,194 Iowa 352
• Parties: KATE MELTON, Appellee, v. ROYAL HIGHLANDERS, Appellant
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

189 N.W. 787

194 Iowa 352

KATE MELTON, Appellee, v. ROYAL HIGHLANDERS, Appellant

No. 34332

Supreme Court of Iowa, Des Moines

September 19, 1922

Appeal from Marshall District Court.--JAMES W. WILLETT, Judge.

SUIT in equity by the beneficiary of a certificate of fraternal mutual insurance, issued by the defendant as a fraternal insurance association. Plaintiff prays that the defendant be required to make an appropriate assessment upon its members for the payment thereof. The defense was that John W. Melton the insured, met his death as the result of an accident growing out of his employment in a prohibited occupation, and that, by the terms of the contract of insurance, the defendant was not liable for death so resulting. There was a decree for the plaintiff, and the defendant appeals.

Reversed.

Hainer Craft & Lane and C. H. Van Law, for appellant.

E. N Farber and H. H. Craney, for appellee.

EVANS, J. STEVENS, C. J., ARTHUR and FAVILLE, JJ., concur.

OPINION

EVANS, J.

I.

The defendant is a fraternal organization, which insures the lives of its members, and is resident at Lincoln, Nebraska. In June, 1907, John W. Melton, resident of Marshalltown, Iowa, became a member of such organization, and purported to continue as such until the date of his death, in November, 1917. At the time of his becoming a member of the organization, he was a butcher by occupation. Two years later, he became a paid member of the fire department of Marshalltown, Iowa, and so continued to the date of his death. This latter occupation was a prohibited occupation, under the Edicts of the defendant association. The formal contract of membership consisted of an application signed by the insured, and of a certificate issued by the defendant. Both the application and the certificate contained reference to the "Edicts of the Executive Castle," and thereby adopted the same as a part of the contract. These Edicts constituted the laws of the association, and were adopted quadrennially at the quadrennial convention, and were duly promulgated. The application signed by the insured contained the following:

"I hereby declare that the above are fair and true answers to the foregoing questions, and I hereby agree that these statements, together with those hereinafter made to the physical examiner in this application, and the Edicts of the Executive Castle of the Royal Highlanders now in force, or that may hereafter be adopted, shall form the basis of this contract for beneficial membership; that any untrue or fraudulent answers, any suppression of facts in regard to my health, age, occupation, personal habits, or neglect to pay any monthly payment which shall be required by the Executive Castle, within the time provided by the Edicts thereof, or neglect to pay the dues fixed by the said Edicts in the manner and at the time provided by said Edicts of the Castle to which I may belong, shall make null and void my benefit certificate, and forfeit all payments made thereon. I also agree that, should I now be engaged in, or should I hereafter engage in any occupation, trade, or calling prohibited by the Edicts of the Executive Castle, that, from and after the date of my so engaging in such prohibited occupation, trade, or calling, my right, as well as that of my beneficiary, to participate in the benefit fund of the fraternity shall cease and become null and void, and that I shall stand suspended as a member, without any notice from the Tributary Castle, and any payment of dues or monthly payment by me, or receipt thereof by any officer or member of the Tributary Castle to which I belong, or to the Executive Castle, shall not be binding on the fraternity. * * * This application and the laws of the Executive Castle now in force, or that my hereafter be adopted, are made a part of the contract between myself and the Executive Castle, and I, for myself and my beneficiary or beneficiaries, agree to conform to and be governed thereby."

The certificate issued by the defendant, so far as material herein, was as follows:

"This certifies that John William Melton has been admitted as a member of Iowa Castle No. 154 of the Royal Highlanders, located at Marshalltown, state of Iowa, and, in accordance with and under the provisions of the edicts, rules, and regulations of the fraternity, is entitled to participate in all the rights, benefits and privileges of membership therein, and in case of death occurring after becoming a member and remaining in good standing for three years or over, the sum of $ 1,000 will be paid to Kate Melton, bearing the relation of wife, upon satisfactory proof of death, together with the surrender of this certificate. * * * This certificate and contract is and shall be subject to forfeiture for any of the causes of forfeiture which are now prescribed in the edicts of the fraternity, or which may be prescribed by the fraternity by amendment of said edicts. The payment of the benefit called for by this certificate and every part thereof is expressly conditioned upon the provision that the owner thereof shall have in every particular complied with the edicts, rules, and regulations governing the membership of this fraternity now in force or that may hereafter become a part of the same, and has not obtained membership by fraud or misrepresentation as to age, physical condition, or occupation, when he was admitted to membership. Both the edicts and application are made a part of this certificate."

The Edicts contained the following:

"The following persons shall not be admitted to beneficial membership in this fraternity. * * * Members of paid and professional fire departments."

It will be seen from the foregoing that, under the strict terms of the application and of the certificate, the membership of insured automatically ceased at the time that he became "a member of a paid and professional fire department."

The plaintiff pleaded an estoppel, in that the insured had at all times deemed himself a continuing member, and was treated and regarded as such by the association and by its local Castle at Marshalltown; that he had regularly paid his monthly dues, and the same had been at all times received by the officers of the association, with full knowledge of the changed occupation of the insured; that he had at all times complied with all the rules and regulations of the association, and had responded to all his obligations thereto; and that his membership had never been challenged.

Up to this point, we have stated only a part of the Edicts. If the foregoing quotations from the application and...