Warnock v. Davis
| Decision Date | 01 October 1881 |
| Citation | 26 L.Ed. 924,104 U.S. 775 |
| Parties | WARNOCK v. DAVIS |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
ERROR to the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio.
Warnock, the plaintiff, is the administrator of the estate of Henry L. Crosser, deceased, and a resident of Kentucky. Davis and the other defendants are partners, under the name of the Scioto Trust Association, of Portsmouth, Ohio, and reside in that State. On the 27th of February, 1872, Crosser applied to the Protection Life Insurance Company, of Chicago, a corporation created under the laws of Illinois, for a policy on his life to the amount of $5,000; and, on the same day, entered into the following agreement with the Scioto Trust Association:——
'This agreement, by and between Henry L. Crosser, of the first part, 27 years old, tanner by occupation, residing at town of Springville, county of Greenup, State of Kentucky, and the Scioto Trust Association, of Portsmouth, Ohio, of the second part, witnesses: said party of the first part having this day made application to the Protection Life Insurance Company, of Chicago, Illinois, for policy on his life, limited to the amount of $5,000.00, hereby agrees to and with the Scioto Trust Association that nine-tenths of the amount due and payable on said policy at the time of the death of the party of the first part shall be the absolute property of, and be paid by, said Protection Life Insurance Company to said Scioto Trust Association, and shall be said party of the first part be assigned and transferred to said Scioto Trust Association, and the remaining one-tenth part thereof shall be subject to whatever disposition said party of the first part shall make thereof in his said transfer and assignment of said policy; that the policy to be issued on said application shall be delie red to and forever held by said Scioto Trust Association, said party of the first part hereby waiving and releasing and transferring and assigning to said Scioto Trust Association all his right, title, and interest whatever in and to said policy, and the moneys due and payable thereon at the time of his death, save and except the one-tenth part of such moneys being subject to his disposition as aforesaid; also, to keep the Scioto Trust Association constantly informed concerning his residence, post-office address, and removals; and further, that said party of the first part shall pay to the said Scioto Trust Association a fee of $6.00 in hand on the execution and delivery of this agreement, and annual dues of $2.50, to be paid on the first of July of every year hereafter, and that in default of such payments the amounts due by him for fees or dues shall be a lien on and be deducted from his said one-tenth part.
'In consideration whereof the said Scioto Trust Association, of the second part, agrees to and with said party of the first part to keep up and maintain said life insurance at their exclusive expense, to pay all dues, fees, and assessments due and payable on said policy, and to keep said party of the first part harmless from the payment of such fees, dues, and assessments, and to procure the payment of one-tenth part of the moneys due and payable on said policy after the death of said party of the first part, when obtained from and paid by said Protection Life Insurance Company, to the party or parties entitled thereto, according to the disposition made thereof by said party of the first part in his said transfer and assignment of said policy, subject to the aforesaid lien and deduction.
'It is hereby expressly understood and agreed by and between the parties hereto, that said Scioto Trust Association do not in any manner obligate themselves to said party of the first part for the performance by said Protection Life Insurance Company of its promises or obligations contained in the policy issued on the application of said party of the first part and herein referred to.
'Witness our hands, this 27th day of February, A. D. 1872.
'GEORGE DAVIS, Treasurer.'
The policy, bearing even date with the agreement, was issued to Crosser, and on the following day he executed to the association the following assignment:——
'Witness my hand and seal, this 28th day of February, A. D. 1872.
'HENRY L CROSSER.' [SEAL.]
Crosser died on the 11th of September, 1873, and on the 16th of May, 1874, the association collected from the company the amount of the policy, namely, $5,000; one-tenth of which, $500, less certain sums due under the agreement, was paid to the widow of the deceased.
The present action is brought to recover the balance, which with interest exceeds $5,000. The defendants admit the collection of the money from the insurance company; but, to defeat the action, rely upon the agreement mentioned, and the assignment of the policy stipulated in it. The agreement and assignment are specifically mentioned in the second and third of the three defences set up in their answer. The first defence consists in a general allegation that Crosser assigned, in good faith and for a valuable consideration, nine tenths of the policy to the defendants; that a power of attorney was at the time executed to them to collect the remaining one tenth and pay the same over to his widow; and that after the collection of the amount they had paid the one tenth to her and taken her receipt for it.
The case was tried by the court without the intervention of a jury. On the trial, the plaintiff gave in evidence the deposition of the receiver of the insurance company, who produced from the papers in his custody the policy of insurance, the agreement and assignment mentioned, the proofs presented to the company of the death...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Aetna Life Insurance Company v. Messier, Civ. A. No. 6233.
...Pa. 36, 40-41, 200 A. 55, 57; Clayton v. Industrial Life Ins. Co., 1948, 162 Pa.Super. 77, 79, 56 A.2d 292, and see Warnock v. Davis, 1881, 104 U.S. 775, 779, 26 L. Ed. 924; Connecticut Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Schaefer, supra, 94 U.S. 457. "`It is enough that in the ordinary course of event......
-
Bowers v. Mo. Mutual Assn.
...reasonable expectation of advantage or benefit from the continuance of his life." 1 Cooley's Briefs on Insurance (2 Ed.) p. 371; Warnock v. Davis, 104 U.S. 775. (15) If it appear that the relation whether of consanguinity or of affinity is such as warrants a conclusion that the beneficiary ......
-
Dow Chemical Co. and Subsidiaries v. U.S.
...or of blood or affinity, to expect some benefit or advantage from the continuance of the life of the assured." Warnock v. Davis, 104 U.S. 775, 778-79, 26 L.Ed. 924 (1881) An individual is presumed to have an insurable interest in his or her own life. 3 Couch on Insurance, § 41.19 (1995). Li......
-
Wexler v. Cal. Fair Plan Ass'n
...is a mere wager, by which the party taking the policy is directly interested in the early death of the assured. " ( Warnock v. Davis (1881) 104 U.S. 775, 779, 26 L.Ed. 924, italics added.)This final sentence identifies the twin goals. Warnock ’s "mere wager" language condemned gambling , wh......
-
CHAPTER 5
...legal prohibition on holding a life insurance policy on a life in which the owner has no insurable interest.50 See Warnock v. Davis, 104 U.S. 775, 779 (1881). Here, the plan was for Imperial to finance the premiums on Bowie’s Policy and, in return, take a security interest in the Policy. Th......
-
Employer has insurable interest in employees.
...who are wholly unrelated to the insured and thus who have a "direct interest in [the insured's] early termination" (Warnock v. Davis, 104 US 775 (1881)). In Warnock, the Supreme Court further defined an insurable interest as "arising from the relations of the party obtaining the insurance, ......
-
Does the Dodd-frank Wall Street Reform Act Rein in Credit Default Swaps? an Eu Comparative Analysis
...the party paying for the potential negative consequences of the risk ... ."). 326. See Cal. Ins. Code § 281 (West 2010); Warnock v. Davis, 104 U.S. 775, 778-79 327. See Gerald P. Dwyer and Thomas Flavin, Ctr. for Financial Innovation and Stability, Fed. Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Credit Defau......