Mitchell v. Allis

• Decision Date: 25 November 1908
• Parties: MITCHELL ET AL. v. ALLIS ET AL.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

47 So. 715

157 Ala. 304

MITCHELL ET AL. v. ALLIS ET AL.

Supreme Court of Alabama

November 25, 1908

Appeal from Chancery Court, Jefferson County; A. H. Benners Chancellor.

Suit by Jesse J. Mitchell and others, by next friend, against C. D Allis, as administrator, and another. From a judgment for defendants, complainants appealed. Reversed and rendered.

Bill by the children of J. L. Mitchell, by next friend, against the administrator and administratrix of the estate of J. L Mitchell, to require the payment by them to the widow and minor children of the proceeds of the life insurance policy on the life of said J. L. Mitchell. The case made by the bill is that the complainants are all minor children of J. L Mitchell, deceased; that C. D. Allis was appointed administrator and Nettie Mitchell administratrix of J. L Mitchell's estate; that Nettie Mitchell was the widow of J. L. Mitchell; that at the time of his death J. L. Mitchell was insured in the New York Life Insurance Company in the sum of $10,000, and that the proceeds of said policy amounting to $10,294.82 had been paid to said administrator and administratrix; that the said life insurance policy was payable to the estate of J. L. Mitchell; that at the time of his death said J. L. Mitchell owned other personal property of less value than $1,000, and that the said property was still in the hands of his personal representative and undisposed of; that $1,000 of the money collected on the life insurance policy had been set apart by order of the probate court as exempt to the widow and minor children, and that the balance of the insurance money was in the hands of a personal representative and being administered by them; that the amount of said insurance policy is exempt to the widow and minor children by law, free from the administration and the payment of debts, and the prayer is that the proceeds of said life insurance policy be turned over to the widow and minor children free from administration and the payment of debts. The answer admits the truth of the allegation, but denies as a matter of law that the proceeds of the policy were exempt to the widow and minor children, and sets up that the estate of Mitchell was insolvent, and that he owed debts largely in excess of the property owned by him at the time of his death and the proceeds of the insurance on his life. The policy is made an exhibit, and, so far as this case is concerned, the following is all that need be set out: "The New York Life Insurance Company agreed to pay $10,000 to the executors, administrators, or assigns of the insured, or to such beneficiary as may have been designated in the manner herein provided, at the home office of the company in the city of New York, immediately upon receipt and approval of the proofs of the death of said J. L. Mitchell, the insured and in addition thereto a sum equal to the annual premium on this...