Norman v. Camp, 27824.

• Decision Date: 25 November 1939
• Docket Number: No. 27824.,27824.
• Citation: 6 S.E.2d 157
• Parties: NORMAN. v. SOVEREIGN CAMP, W. O. W.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

6 S.E.2d 157

NORMAN.

v.SOVEREIGN CAMP, W. O. W.

No. 27824.

Court of Appeals of Georgia,

Division No. 2.

Nov. 25, 1939.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 19, 1939.

Syllabus by the Court.

1. The general demurrer is not sustainable on the ground that the petition did not allege the payment of the required premiums, and did not allege that the deceased member died while in good standing.

2. An agreement to pay upon receipt of satisfactory proof of death does not become enforceable until the proof is furnished, and the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the right of action is complete.

Error from Civil Court, Fulton County; Robert Carpenter, Jr., Judge.

Action on life insurance policy by Espy Norman against the Sovereign Camp, Woodmen of the World. To review a judgment of dismissal, the plaintiff brings error.

Reversed.

F. Joe Turner, Jr., of Atlanta, for plaintiff in error.

Robt. G. Plunkett and R. F. Scarborough, both of Macon, and Lewis H. Fowler, of Atlanta, for defendant in error.

STEPHENS, Presiding Judge.

Espy Norman brought an action against Sovereign Camp Woodmen of the World, alleging in the petition that the defendant is indebted to the plaintiff in the sum of $1,000 with interest from March 18, 1933, and the penalty provided by law for failure in bad faith to pay when due, that the plaintiff was the beneficiary under a life insurance policy issued on the life of his father who was a member of Camp No. 2 in South Carolina, that the policy, which was issued on June 17, 1929, provided that the Sovereign Camp, a fraternal beneficiary association, "upon receipt of satisfactory proof of death of the said member while in good standing, " would pay $1,000 to the beneficiary under the "certificate which was issued in consideration of warranties and agreements contained in the original application therefor, " and "in further consideration of the payment to the association of $3.24 for the month in which the certificate was dated, and the payment to the association of $3.24 on or before the last day of each month thereafter, " that the certificate was signed by the sovereign commander and attested by J. F. Yates, sovereign clerk, that, under a rider or indorsement on the back of the policy, the original beneficiary had been substituted by the plaintiff being made the beneficiary, the indorsement being that no change of beneficiary "designation or declaration shall take effect until endorsed on this certificate by the Sovereign Clerk, date indorsed, 4/29/32, beneficiary, Espy Norman, son, indorsed by J. F. Yates, " that the plaintiff's father, the insured, "deceased on March 18, 1933, " that "proof of death was furnished the defendant, and demand for payment made, but defendant has failed and refused to pay or adjust said claim with petitioner." The other allegations of the petition are not material.

The defendant demurred generally to the petition on the ground that it set forth no cause of action, and on the ground that the petition showed on its face that the cause of action, if any, was barred by the statuteof limitations. The defendant demurred on several special grounds also. The plaintiff amended the petition by alleging, among other things, that on April 15, 1933, "petitioner furnished the defendant with proof of the death of his said father, as provided for in said policy or certificate." The defendant demurred to the petition as amended, renewing all the grounds of its original demurrer, including the ground that the suit was barred by ...