West v. Grand Lodge A. O. U. W. of Texas

• Decision Date: 07 October 1896
• Citation: 37 S.W. 966
• Parties: WEST et al. v. GRAND LODGE OF THE ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN OF TEXAS.<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL>
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

37 S.W. 966

WEST et al. v. GRAND LODGE OF THE ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN OF TEXAS.¹

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas.

October 7, 1896.

Appeal from district court, Bexar county; Robert B. Green, Judge.

Action by Duval West, administrator of the estate of Benjamin Cleghorn, deceased, against the Grand Lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Texas, on a certificate of life insurance. Hattie St. Clair intervened. From a judgment in favor of defendant, plaintiff and intervener appeal. Affirmed.

Hines & Bee, for appellants. W. S. Robson and J. T. Duncan, for appellee. John A. Green, Jr., for intervener.

FLY, J.

Duval West, administrator of the estate of Benjamin Cleghorn, deceased, sued appellee, the Grand Lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, to recover the sum of $2,000, alleged to be due on a certificate of life insurance issued to said Cleghorn. Hattie St. Clair intervened in the suit, alleging that the certificate was payable to the order of Cleghorn on his application that it be so made, and further stated "that, seven years prior to the time when the said Cleghorn made his application for membership to said Milan Lodge No. 2, the wife of the said Cleghorn had abandoned him, with the intention of never returning to him, and said wife died in the year 1885, leaving no issue; that in the year 1880 the said Benjamin Cleghorn, deceased, proposed to this intervener, who was then a young single woman, of twenty-three years of age, that if she would keep house for him, attend to his physical and temporal wants and needs, see to the preparation of his food, and that his clothing was kept neat and in good repair, do all his washing, nurse him in sickness, and occupy the position of wife to him during the remainder of his life, that he (the said Cleghorn) would care for, maintain, and entirely support the said intervener during his life, and would insure his life for the sum of two thousand dollars, and make the said insurance payable to the said intervener at his death; that said intervener consented to such an arrangement, and make a contract with the said deceased containing the said terms, and bound herself to said deceased to carry out the same." It is further stated that intervener carried out her part of the agreement, and was dependent upon Cleghorn for her maintenance and support; that, at his death, he left no wife or children or other relative, and had no one except intervener dependent upon him for support; and "that, prior to his death, the said Benjamin Cleghorn, deceased, in accordance with his contract so to do, made, executed, and delivered to this intervener an order, in writing, upon the said Ancient Order of United Workmen, defendant, making the amount of said benefit certificate payable to intervener." Appellee answered that the deceased had bound himself to obey the by-laws and regulations of the institution; that an order had been passed that all certificates payable to order should be surrendered for cancellation, and notice was served on Cleghorn to surrender his certificate, and receive one in which the beneficiary should be designated; and that he had failed and refused to obey said order, and thereby forfeited his right as a member, and, if he ever had any right to assign the certificate, it had been lost. It was also answered that Hattie St. Clair had been the concubine of Cleghorn for many years, and that she was not a dependent as intended by the rules of the order; that the administrator could not recover, because the life insurance, under the rules of the order, was no part of the estate of Cleghorn, but, in the absence of any relative or dependent, the same reverted to the order.

The facts show that appellee is a voluntary benevolent association, and, by complying with all the rules of the association, each member is entitled to a benefit certificate, and to name a beneficiary, who, upon the death of the member, will receive the sum of $2,000. Benjamin Cleghorn became a member of the association on May 7, 1883, and applied for and obtained a certificate of insurance for $2,000, payable to his order. In his application, he pledged himself to be bound by and comply with all the rules, regulations, and laws of the associations as they then were, and as they were changed or altered from time to time thereafter. The regulations of the association required that the $2,000 should go to a designated member of his family or blood relative or a dependent.

It is provided by the laws of the order as follows:

"(3) In the portion of this fund, namely, $2,000, to which the beneficiaries of a deceased member are entitled, the members themselves have no individual property right. It does not constitute a part of their estate to be administered, nor have they any right in or control over the same, except the power to designate the person or persons to whom, as beneficiaries, the same shall be paid at the death of the member. The beneficiaries thus designated have no vested right in said sum until the death of the member gives such right, and the designation may be changed by the member, in the method prescribed by the laws of the order, at any time before his death."

"(5) Liability. No liability for the payment of any money shall arise by virtue of any beneficiary certificate, or certificate of membership, or otherwise, unless the member of the order named in such certificate shall, in every particular, while a member of the order, comply with all the laws, rules, and requirements thereof, and shall, at the time of his death, be a member of said order in good standing; and that the certificate by virtue of which the demand is made shall not have been surrendered, or the rights thereunder surrendered, by the member of said certificate, or his rights thereunder canceled at his request."

It is further provided:

"(21) Sec. 4. Beneficiaries. Each member shall designate to the person or persons to whom the beneficiary fund due at his death shall be paid, who shall, in every instance, be one or more members of his family, or some one related to him by blood, or who shall be dependent upon him."

"(22) Sec. 5. Order of Payment to Beneficiaries. If one or more of the beneficiaries shall die during the lifetime of the member, the surviving beneficiary or beneficiaries shall be entitled to the benefit equally, unless otherwise provided in the beneficiary certificate; and if all the beneficiaries shall die during the lifetime of the member, and he shall have no other direction, the benefit shall be paid to his widow, if living at the time of his death; and, if he leaves no widow surviving him, then said benefit shall be paid, share and share alike, to his children, his grandchildren living at the time of his death to take the share to which their deceased parents would be entitled if living. If there be no children nor grandchildren of the deceased member living at the time of his death, then said benefit shall be paid to his mother if living, and, if she be dead at the time of his death, then to his father if living; and, should there be no one living at the time of the death of the member entitled to said benefit under the provisions hereof, then the same shall revert to the beneficiary fund of the supreme lodge."

"(23) 7. Change of Beneficiaries. Any member desiring to change his beneficiaries may do so in the following manner: He shall fill out the blank form on the back of his beneficiary certificate authorizing the change. He shall have his signature attested by the recorder of his lodge, and the seal of the lodge attached thereto, or attached by a civil officer under his official seal, when the member cannot sign in the presence of the recorder. When this is done, he shall deliver his beneficiary certificate to the recorder of his lodge, together with a fee of fifty cents. The recorder shall forward the same certificate and fee to the supreme recorder, who shall make a record of the change on the books of the supreme lodge, and shall issue a new certificate in lieu thereof, payable as directed on the back of the surrendered certificate. The new certificate shall bear the same number of the old one, which shall be safely filed and preserved. The provisions hereof in special cases may be waived by the supreme lodge at its option."

"(24) 9. Delivery of Beneficiary Certificate. The beneficiary certificate issued to every member by the supreme lodge shall be delivered to him as soon as practicable after the workman degree has been conferred; provided that in every case the date of countersigning the said certificate by the master workman shall be the date when the workman degree was conferred."

"(26) Art. V. Membership. Sec. 1. Qualifications for Admission. No person shall be admitted to membership in any lodge under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Texas unless duly qualified as herein prescribed, viz. a white male not under 21, and not over 50 years of age, of good moral character, able and competent to earn a livelihood for himself and family, and a believer in a Supreme Being, the Creator and Preserver of the Universe."

In 1888 notices were sent to all members who had certificates payable to order, by appellee, to send their certificates in compliance with law, to be changed, and that they should be made payable to some one of the class designated who was named by the member holding the certificate. Cleghorn, though notified, did not comply with the order. Cleghorn, at time of the issuance of the certificate, had a lawful wife living, who was afterwards divorced from him, and died in 1885. At the time of the issuance of the certificate, Cleghorn was living in adultery with Hattie St. Clair, and was not living with his wife. Cleghorn did not designate any person to whom the insurance was to be paid, and left no will or testament. The relation between Cleghorn and Hattie St. Clair was that of man and concubine, which continued for many years, and up to the time of...