Taylor v. Hair

• Decision Date: 28 December 1901
• Docket Number: 2,676.
• Citation: 112 F. 913
• Parties: TAYLOR v. HAIR et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Oregon

112 F. 913

TAYLOR v. HAIR et al.

No. 2,676.

United States Circuit Court, D. Oregon.

December 28, 1901

N. H Bloomfield and M. L. Pipes, for plaintiff.

Robert C. Wright, for defendants.

BELLINGER District Judge.

On July 10, 1900, the Woodmen of the World issued to James T. Hair, a member, on his application, a benefit certificate for $3,000 in favor of Clarinda I. Taylor, who he declared bore to him the relation of fiancee. The certificate was delivered on the 16th of July, 1900. Hair died on October 12th of the same year. Doubts having arisen as to the right of the beneficiary named in the certificate, the head camp of the order filed its bill of complaint in interpleader, and deposited the $3,000 with the clerk of the court. By stipulation of the parties in interest, an order was entered dismissing as to the order, and providing for the filing of pleadings upon the part of the defendants in the suit of interpleader. Thereupon Clarinda I. Taylor filed her cross complaint, alleging, among other things, the issuance of the benefit certificate in question to said Hair for the benefit of complainant as fiancee of the deceased. To this the heirs at law of said deceased filed their joint and several answers, in which among other things, it is denied that said Taylor was ever the fiancee of the deceased, and it is alleged that at the time of the issuance of said benefit certificate, and long prior thereto, said Taylor was a married woman, the wife of one Byrns, and that prior to the issuing of said certificate deceased and said Taylor contracted to marry each other as soon as said Taylor should have procured a divorce from her husband. It is further alleged that on January 23, 1900, said J. T. Hair and one Nettie Hair were husband and wife, and that on that day a decree of divorce was granted said Nettie from her said husband, J. T. Hair, and that the six months within which divorced persons may not marry again did not expire until July 23, 1900. It is further alleged that said Taylor pretends that on October 11, 1900, a decree of divorce was entered in her favor in the circuit court for Lane county, dissolving the marriage contract then existing between her and her said husband and the defendants allege that said court was without jurisdiction to make the said decree of divorce, for the reason that the defendant in said suit was not served with process as required by law; that such service was a pretended service by publication, and not otherwise. To this answer the plaintiff in the cross complaint excepts upon two grounds (1) That from the matters alleged it does not appear that complainant was not qualified, as fiancee, to become the beneficiary in said certificate; and (2) that defendants are without standing in court to make such answer, for the reason that they are strangers to the transaction in question, and do not stand in such relation thereto as to entitle them to an interest in the fund in court.

The constitution of the order of Woodmen of the World provides as follows:

'Sec. 119. A benefit certificate can only be made expressly payable to some person or persons named, who sustain to the holder the relationship of either wife, legitimate child, adopted child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, nephew, niece, uncle, aunt, fiancee, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, or dependent. No benefit certificate shall hereafter be made payable 'to his estate,' 'to party to be named in will,' 'to himself,' nor to 'his legal heirs.' But no benefit certificate shall hereafter be made payable to a fiancee when one or more of the above-named parties are dependent upon the neighbor. When the application does not show any special named beneficiary, he can direct the benefit to be made payable 'to the beneficiaries designated in the constitution of the order,' and the benefit certificate may so provide. In such cases, death benefits, when due, shall be payable as follows: If the deceased leaves a widow and no child or grandchild, to his widow; if a widow and descendants, one-half to his widow and the remaining one-half divided equally among his children, the children of a deceased child to take collectively what their parent would have received if living; if no widow or descendants, to his parents, in equal part, or all to one parent if only one be living; if no widow, descendants or parents, then to his brothers, sisters and descendants of deceased brothers and sisters, the latter taking collectively what their parents would have taken if living; if none of said relatives are living, then to the grandparents, uncles and aunts in equal portion; if none of said relatives survive, the benefits in such case shall be forfeited and remain in the benefit fund.

'Sec. 120. In case any beneficiary expressly named in the benefit certificate does not survive the holder thereof, the amount which would have gone to such named beneficiary, if surviving, shall be paid pursuant to section 119,' etc.

The...