Murdy v. Skyles

• Decision Date: 09 April 1897
• Citation: 70 N.W. 714,101 Iowa 549
• Parties: MURDY v. SKYLES ET UX.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

101 Iowa 549

70 N.W. 714

MURDY

v.SKYLES ET UX.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

April 9, 1897.

Appeal from district court, Lee county; A. J. McCrary, Judge.

Appeal from an order of court discharging the German-American Savings Bank as garnishee in the above-entitled case. Reversed.T. B. Snyder and J. D. M. Hamilton, for appellant.

Craig & Harrington, for appellees.

DEEMER, J.

Plaintiff, who is a physician and surgeon, commenced this action against the defendants, who are husband and wife, to recover compensation for medical services rendered the husband, claiming that said services were a family expense chargeable upon the property of both husband and wife. In aid of his suit, he sued out a writ of attachment and caused the German Savings Bank to be garnisheed. The bank, in answer to the process, stated that it was indebted to defendant Anna Skyles in the sum of about $400. The defendant F. P. Skyles in his answer admitted that he employed plaintiff to examine him on two occasions as a prerequisite to obtaining aid from an organization known as the “Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen,” and admits an indebtedness of $10. And the defendants jointly pleaded a counterclaim for damages upon the attachment bond given by plaintiff, based upon allegations that the attachment was wrongfully sued out, and the money in the hands of the bank was exempt as the avails of a certain policy of insurance issued to F. P. Skyles. The plaintiff, in reply, denied the allegations of the counterclaim, and further pleaded that he and defendant F. P. Skyles made an arrangement or agreement by which plaintiff's bill should be paid out of the indemnity or insurance money. Thereafter defendants filed a motion to dissolve the attachment and discharge the garnishee on the ground that the money held by the bank was exempt from seizure under attachment or execution. This motion was supported by an affidavit to the effect that F. P. Skyles was injured in a railway wreck, and that for the disability incurred he drew from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen $1,500, which was deposited in the bank by his wife, who, he says, was the beneficiary under the policy. The affidavit also recites that Skyles was totally disabled, and that the money paid him was all he had to live on. Attached to this motion was a copy of the certificate of membership or policy of insurance issued by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, which, so far as material, reads as follows: “This certificate, issued by the Grand Lodge of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, witnesseth: That Brother F. P. Skyles, a member of Nauvoo Lodge, No. 391, of said order, located at Fort Madison, Iowa, is entitled to all the rights, privileges, and benefits of membership, and to participate in the beneficiary department to the amount of fifteen hundred dollars, which amount, in the event of his total disability, shall be paid to him, or, in the event of his death, to Anna F. Skyles, his wife, whose residence is Fort Madison, Iowa. This certificate is issued on condition that said F. P. Skyles shall comply with all the laws, rules, and regulations of the order while a member of the same; otherwise, this certificate shall be canceled and become null and void.” This motion was submitted in connection with the pleadings in the case and was by the court sustained. The appeal is from the ruling on this motion.

The questions presented involve a construction of section 1182 of the Code, which is as follows: “A policy of insurance on the life of an individual, in the absence of an agreementor assignment to the contrary, shall inure to the separate use of the husband or wife and children of said individual, independently of his or her creditors; and an endowment policy, payable to the assured on attaining a certain age, shall be exempt from liability for any of his or her debts.” This section was amended by the 24th General Assembly as follows: “And the avails of all policies of insurance on the life of any individual, payable to his surviving widow, shall be exempt from liabilities for all debts of such beneficiary contracted prior to the death of the assured; provided that in any case the total exemption for the benefit of any one person under the provisions of this section shall not exceed the sum of $5,000.00.” Appellee claims that, under the facts shown, the avails of the certificate which we have just set out are exempt, under this statute and the amendment thereto. The certificate issued to defendant F. P. Skyles gave him membership in an organization which promised to pay him, in the event of his total disability, the sum of $1,500, or, in the event of his death, a like sum to his wife. The record does not clearly disclose the character of the organization which issued the certificate, but, from the allegations in the pleadings and the proofs offered, we must presume that it is an insurance company, and that it agreed to pay indemnity to the persons named in the event of the death or total disablement of the assured. It is, then, to all intents and purposes a...