Volunteer State Life Ins. Co. v. Hardin

• Decision Date: 06 November 1946
• Docket Number: No. A-910.,A-910.
• Citation: 197 S.W.2d 105
• Parties: VOLUNTEER STATE LIFE INS. CO. et al. v. HARDIN et al.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

Page 105

197 S.W.2d 105

VOLUNTEER STATE LIFE INS. CO. et al. v. HARDIN et al.

No. A-910.

Supreme Court of Texas.

November 6, 1946.

Error to Court of Civil Appeals of Fifth Supreme Judicial District.

Interpleader suit by the Volunteer State Life Insurance Company and others interpleading Hal White Hardin and others for a determination to whom and in what amount the proceeds of life insurance policies taken out by Dr. Hardin, deceased, be paid. The trial court found that Hal White Hardin was not entitled to recover any part of the funds, and the Court of Civil Appeals, 193 S.W.2d 554, reversed the judgment, and Hallie Hardin and others bring error.

Judgment of Court of Civil Appeals reversed and judgment of trial court affirmed.

Hattie L. Henenberg, of Dallas, guardian ad litem for Frederick Duncan Hardin.

Donalson, Bullard & Kucera, of Dallas, and Goldsmith & Bagby and Chester M. Fulton, all of Austin, for Hallie Hardin et al., petitioners.

Ralph W. Malone, of Dallas, for Volunteer State Life Ins. Co. who did not join in the application for writ error.

Lively, Dougherty & Alexander and Fred H. Alexander, all of Dallas, for Hal White Hardin, respondent.

ALEXANDER, Chief Justice.

In this suit Hal White Hardin asserts the right to share in the proceeds of two life insurance policies issued on the life of his father and payable to third parties, on the ground that community funds belonging to his father and mother, one-half of which he inherited as sole heir of his mother's estate, were used in part in paying the premiums on the policies.

Dr. Abell D. Hardin and Pearl White Hardin were married in 1912. In 1915 he took out a life insurance policy on his own life, payable to his estate, and in 1925 he took out another policy on his own life, payable primarily to his father and mother. Each policy contained the usual provisions authorizing the insured to change the beneficiary at will and to exercise all the rights, privileges, and options therein contained without the consent or joinder of the beneficiary. In 1933 the insured caused his wife to be named as primary beneficiary and his son, Hal White Hardin, as secondary beneficiary in each of the policies. His wife died intestate on September 30, 1940, leaving their son, Hal White Hardin, as her sole heir. Up to that time all premiums paid on the policies had been paid out of community funds of Dr. Hardin and his wife. Each policy contained the usual table of cash surrender values to be paid under stipulated conditions upon surrender of the policy by the insured prior to his death. At the time of Mrs. Hardin's death the two policies had a total cash surrender value of $3296.72. On September 3, 1943, Dr. Hardin caused his sisters, Hallie Hardin and Idessa Hardin, to be named as primary beneficiaries in the two policies. The trial court found that there was no evidence that Dr. Hardin was insolvent nor that he had been guilty of any fraud against his wife in connection with these insurance policies. Dr. Hardin died on May 10, 1944, leaving a will in which his son, Hal White Hardin, was named as one of the joint executors, but the record does not disclose the amount of his estate nor who were the beneficiaries thereof. After Dr. Hardin's death Hal White Hardin asserted a right to share in the proceeds of the two policies to the extent of one-half of the cash surrender value of the policies as of the date of the death of his mother. The beneficiaries named in the policies claimed the whole of the proceeds of the policies. The insurance company tendered the proceeds of the policies in court and requested the court to determine to whom they belonged.

The trial court found that Hal White Hardin was not entitled to recover any part of the funds, but the Court of Civil Appeals reversed the judgment and held that he was entitled to recover the proceeds of the policies to the extent of one-half of the cash surrender value of the two policies as of the date of his mother's death. 193 S.W.2d 554.

In the case of Womack v. Womack, 141 Tex. 299, 172 S.W.2d 307, this Court had before it a case involving three policies on the life of the husband payable to the wife and one policy on the life of the wife payable to the husband. Each policy authorized the insured to change the beneficiary and provided for certain cash surrender values upon surrender of the policy during the life of the insured. All premiums had been paid out of community funds. The parties had been divorced and were seeking partition of their community property. This Court held that the cash surrender value of these policies constituted community property to be taken into consideration in the partition of the community assets.

We need not determine whether, upon dissolution of the marital relation by the death of the wife, Hal White Hardin as her heir would have had a similar right to have the cash surrender value of these policies taken into consideration in a partition of the community estate, for even if he would have had such a right the result in this case would be the same.

It has been definitely settled in this State that where there is no intention on the part of the husband to defraud the wife, the proceeds of a policy on the life of the husband vest in the beneficiary named in the policy upon the death of the insured, even though the policy was taken out...