Parker v. Potter

• Decision Date: 18 February 1931
• Docket Number: 205.
• Parties: PARKER v. POTTER et al.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

157 S.E. 68

200 N.C. 348

PARKER v. POTTER et al.

No. 205.

Supreme Court of North Carolina

February 18, 1931

Appeal from Superior Court, Duplin County; Grady, Judge.

Action by W. V. Parker, administrator of Maggie F. Groves, deceased against F. L. Potter, administrator of John A. Groves deceased, and another. From the judgment, plaintiff and defendant named appeal. F. L. Potter, administrator, died after hearing of the cause, and Nellie Susan Outlaw, as administrator de bonis non of the estate of John A. Groves deceased, was made a party.

Judgment affirmed on both appeals.

Where husband insures life for wife's benefit and afterwards feloniously takes her life, neither husband nor his estate can profit by his wrong.

Under policy, interest of insured's wife as beneficiary was contingent upon her surviving husband.

A trial by jury was waived, and the parties agreed upon the following statement of the facts:

"1. J. A. Groves and his wife, Maggie Groves, were living together as man and wife at Magnolia, N. C.; they had no children, and on April 3, 1929, the said J. A. Groves wrongfully, unlawfully and feloniously shot and killed his said wife, Maggie Groves, and thereafter committed suicide; the said J. A. Groves being at that time 55 years of age, and Maggie Groves being 44 years of age.

"2. At the time of said homicide and suicide, J. A. Groves had a policy of insurance in the Mutual Life Insurance Company of Maine for $1000.00, which policy was payable to Maggie Groves, wife of said J. A. Groves.

"At said time the said J. A. Groves had another policy of life insurance in the Woodmen of the World, which was payable to his wife, Maggie Groves, or in the event of her death, prior to that of J. A. Groves, to Rebecca J. Groves, the mother of the said J. A. Groves, she being the next of kin to J. A. Groves, and being the person named in said policy as beneficiary, in case of the death of the said Maggie Groves prior to the death of her husband. Said policy has been collected by the administrator of J. A. Groves, and the amount thereof, to-wit, $1000.00, is now on deposit in bank to await the further orders of the Court in this action.

The $1000.00 policy issued by the Mutual Life Insurance Company of Maine has also been collected by F. L. Potter, administrator of J. A. Groves, and is now being held to await the further orders of the Court in this action.

"3. At the time of his death J. A. Groves owned real and personal property, and owed some debts, and there were mortgage liens upon his real estate; but the value of his real and personal estate and the amount of his debts cannot be ascertained at this time. It is agreed by all parties that this matter, in respect to the net value of said estate is to be reserved and passed upon by a jury, together with an issue as to damage for the wrongful death of the said Maggie Groves; but it is agreed that the Court shall pass at this time upon the legal questions raised by the pleadings as to the respective interests of the parties in and to the two policies of life insurance above referred to, and as to the interest, if any, of the administrator of said Maggie Groves, in and to the real and personal estate of her deceased husband."

There are four separate causes of action declared upon in the pleadings.

(a) W. V. Parker, administrator of Maggie F. Groves, claims to be the owner of the proceeds from the two life insurance policies hereinbefore referred to, as against the administrator of J. A. Groves, who also claims the proceeds from said two policies.

(b) W. V. Parker, administrator of Maggie Groves, also claims and alleges that he is entitled to recover from the estate of J. A. Groves, deceased, the value of the dower right of his intestate in and to the estate of J. A. Groves, also one-half of the personal estate as distributee under the statutes, and also $300 in addition thereto, representing the value of her year's support.

(c) Mrs. Rebecca J. Groves, the mother and nearest of kin to J. A. Groves, deceased, claims to be the owner in her own right of the $1,000 collected from the Woodmen of the World on the policy hereinbefore referred to.

(d) W. V. Parker, administrator of Maggie Groves, claims damages out of the estate of the said J. A. Groves on account of her wrongful death, which is admitted to have been caused by a felonious act on the part of J. A. Groves, deceased.

The court is requested to pass upon the contentions of parties in respect to causes (a), (b), (c) as named above; but as to cause (d), as set out above, it is agreed by all parties that this question may be postponed and tried before the Court and jury at some subsequent term.

Upon the foregoing facts, the court is of the opinion that because of the felonious slaying of his wife, the estate of J. A. Groves is not entitled to any part of the proceeds collected by F. L. Potter, administrator, from the Mutual Life Insurance of Maine; but that the proceeds thereof should belong to W. V. Parker, administrator of the said Maggie Groves. The court is also of the opinion that the proceeds from the policy issued by the Woodmen of the World, and now in the hands of the defendant, J. A. Groves, deceased, is the property of the defendant, Rebecca J. Groves, who is admitted to be the beneficiary named in said policy, in the event of the prior death of the said Maggie Groves.

The court is also of the opinion upon the admitted facts that W. V. Parker, administrator of Maggie Groves, deceased, is not entitled to recover anything in this action in respect to the dower right of his intestate, or of any rights that she may have had as widow or distributee of the estate of the said J. A. Groves; and in respect to this cause of action, the same is dismissed.

It was thereupon adjudged that the plaintiff recover of the defendant F. L Potter, administrator of John A. Groves, $1,000 collected by said administrator from the Mutual Life Insurance Company of Maine; that the defendant Rebecca J. Groves recover of said administrator $1,000 collected from the Woodmen of the World; that the plaintiff is not entitled to recover anything out of the estate of John A. Groves because of any dower right his intestate might have had or because she was the widow and a distributee of her deceased husband; and that the action for wrongful death be continued.

The plaintiff and the defendant F. L. Potter, administrator, excepted and appealed.

It was agreed by the parties that sections 4 and 5 in the policy issued by the Woodmen of the World are the only provisions applicable to the questions arising upon said policy. The sections are as follows:

"Section 4: Applications--Applications must be made on Forms prescribed by the Sovereign Commander, stating the amount desired and naming the beneficiary and relationship to applicant, which beneficiary or beneficiaries shall be his wife, children, adopted children, parents, brothers and sisters, or other blood relations, or persons dependent upon the member. If the beneficiary named is not one of said class of persons, the certificate shall be null and void.

"Section 5: Beneficiaries--The beneficiary or beneficiaries shall be designated in every beneficiary certificate issued and shall be only of the class named above. In the event of the death of all the beneficiaries designated before the death of the member, if no new designation has been made, the benefits shall be paid to the surviving widow and surviving children of the member, share and share alike, provided such widow shall not be entitled to any benefits if she shall have been divorced; provided, further, that if there be no surviving widow, the surviving children, if any shall be entitled to all of such benefits, and if there be no surviving children, then the surviving widow, if any, shall be entitled to the benefits; but if there be no surviving wife or children, such benefits shall be paid to the next living relation of the member in the order named in class of beneficiaries named in paragraph 4 above, and those of the half blood shall share equally with those of the full blood."

It is admitted that since the hearing of this cause that F. L. Potter, administrator, has died, and that Nellie Susan Outlaw is now the duly qualified and acting administrator de bonis non of the said estate, and has by her own motion been made a party hereto.

Butler & Butler, of Clinton, for plaintiff.

Beasley & Stevens, of Warsaw, J. Faison Thomson, of Goldsboro, and J. T. Gresham, Jr., and R. D. Johnson, both of Warsaw, for defendants.

ADAMS J.

It is a fundamental maxim of the common law that no man should take advantage of his own wrong. Not only is the maxim based on elementary principles; it is firmly embedded in our jurisprudence and, as remarked by Broom, it admits of illustrations from every branch of legal procedure. Legal Maxims, 275. One of these illustrations is given in Anderson v. Parker, 152 N.C. 1, 67 S.E. 53, in which it is said that the beneficiary in a policy of insurance who has caused or procured the death of the insured under circumstances amounting to a felony will not be allowed to recover on the policy. As the court observed, this wholesome doctrine has been uniformly upheld except where the interest involved was conferred by statute and the statute itself did not recognize any exceptions. 2 Couch, Cyc. of Ins. Law, 1018.

Conversely if a husband insures his life for the benefit of his wife and afterwards feloniously takes her life, neither he nor his estate will be permitted to profit by his wrong. "To permit a person who commits a murder, or any person claiming under him, to benefit by his criminal act, would be contrary to public policy. And no devisee can take under the will of a...