National Life & Accident Ins. Co. v. Hodge

Decision Date19 October 1922
Docket Number(No. 2621.)
Citation244 S.W. 863
PartiesNATIONAL LIFE & ACCIDENT INS. CO. v. HODGE.
CourtTexas Court of Appeals

Appeal from Harrison County Court; W. H. Strength, Judge.

Action by A. A. Hodge, administrator of the estate of Roosevelt McLemore, deceased, against the National Life & Accident Insurance Company. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.

Davidson, Blalock & Blalock, of Marshall, for appellant.

Cary M. Abney, of Marshall, for appellee.

HODGES, J.

The appellee, as the administrator of the estate of Roosevelt McLemore, deceased, sued and recovered a judgment against the appellant for the sum of $133, the full amount of a life and accident policy issued to the deceased, and the statutory attorney's fees. The policy stipulated that it should be in full force from date for death resulting from accidental causes, but if the insured died from natural causes within six months from the date of the policy his beneficiary should receive only half that sum.

It is conceded that the deceased was assassinated by a third party and within the six months. In submitting the only disputed issue touching the validity of the policy, the trial court assumed that an unprovoked murder was an accidental death within the meaning of the policy. The holding is assigned as error. The assignment is overruled. The law is well settled that, in the absence of some qualifying exception, a death from such causes is, within the terms of the policy, an accident. See 1 Corpus, Juris, p. 431, and the authorities there cited.

A second assignment of error complains of the ruling of the court in admitting in evidence a letter written by the appellant prior to the institution of this suit. The objection is without merit, and the assignment is overruled.

The judgment is affirmed.

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8 cases
  • McKeon v. National Casualty Co.
    • United States
    • Missouri Court of Appeals
    • 3 Enero 1925
    ...v. Moseley, 211 F. 1 (cases cited); Richards v. Standard Accident, 58 Utah 622; Union Accident v. Willis, 44 Okla. 578; Nat. Life & Acc. Ins. Co. v. Hodges, 244 S.W. 863; American Mut. Benefit Ass'n v. Joshua, 200 S.W. 260; Starr v. Aetna Life, 41 Wash. 199; Allen v. Travelers Assn., 163 Io......
  • Republic Nat. Life Ins. Co. v. Heyward
    • United States
    • Texas Supreme Court
    • 14 Abril 1976
    ...393 (1939); Spencer v. Southland Life Insurance Co., 340 S.W.2d 335 (Tex.Civ.App.--Fort Worth 1960, writ ref'd); National Life & Accident Insurance Co. v. Hodge, 244 S.W. 863 (Tex.Civ.App.--Texarkana 1922, no writ); Great American Reserve Insurance Co. v. Sumner, 464 S.W.2d 212 (Tex.Civ.App......
  • Heyward v. Republic Nat. Life Ins. Co.
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • 10 Septiembre 1975
    ...Insurance Company v. Garrison, 97 S.W.2d 534 (Tex.Civ.App.--Eastland 1936, writ dism'd); National Life and Accident Insurance Company v. Hodge, 244 S.W. 863 (Tex.Civ.App.--Texarkana 1922, writ dism'd). The rule seems to be settled that although an insured is intentionally killed or injured ......
  • Home Benefit Ass'n v. Briggs
    • United States
    • Texas Court of Appeals
    • 1 Junio 1933
    ...therefrom would, as to the deceased, have been, under the circumstances recited, unforeseen and accidental. National Life & Accident Ins. Co. v. Hodge (Tex. Civ. App.) 244 S. W. 863; 24 Tex. Jur., p. 1036; 1 C. J., p. 431, § 77; Tabor v. Commercial Casualty Ins. Co., 104 W. Va. 162, 139 S. ......
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