Wright v. Mutual Life Ins. Co. of New York

• Decision Date: 11 May 1927
• Docket Number: No. 4839.,4839.
• Citation: 19 F.2d 117
• Parties: WRIGHT v. MUTUAL LIFE INS. CO. OF NEW YORK.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

19 F.2d 117 (1927)

WRIGHT v. MUTUAL LIFE INS. CO. OF NEW YORK.

No. 4839.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

May 11, 1927.

C. C. Brannen, of Troy, Ala., and Richard T. Rives, of Montgomery, Ala. (Wiley C. Hill, of Montgomery, Ala., on the brief), for appellant.

Wm. Douglas Arant, of Birmingham, Ala. (F. L. Allen, of New York City, Bradley, Baldwin, All & White, of Birmingham, Ala., and Jones & Thomas and C. P. McIntyre, all of Montgomery, Ala., on the brief), for appellee.

Before WALKER, BRYAN, and FOSTER, Circuit Judges.

BRYAN, Circuit Judge.

Appellee became liable on a life insurance policy which provided for the payment of a monthly income of $30 upon proof of death of the insured, and double indemnity, or a monthly income of $60, upon proof that such death occurred by accidental means. The income so payable was to continue 20 years at all events, and thereafter during the lifetime of the original beneficiary.

Appellant, a citizen of Alabama, brought a common-law action in a state court to recover $420 upon 7 monthly installments then due, on the theory that the death of the insured was accidental. Appellee, a New York corporation, filed a petition for removal to the federal District Court on the ground of diversity of citizenship, and alleged that the matter in controversy exceeded the jurisdictional amount of $3,000. A motion by appellant to remand was denied. 3 F.(2d) 501.

Appellee then filed an equitable plea, which alleged that the insured died by his own voluntary act, and not as the result of an accident, set out a clause of the policy which provided that the policy should be surrendered to the company upon its maturity, and that a supplementary contract should then be issued for the income payable thereunder, and tendered a supplementary contract providing for the payment of a monthly income of $30. The District Judge transferred the case to the equity docket, and, after the taking of evidence, sustained the equitable plea. Thereupon a final decree was entered, denying liability for double indemnity, and awarding to appellant judgment for $1,136.54, which was the aggregate amount of the installments then past due at the rate of $30 a month, and requiring appellant to surrender the original policy of insurance, and accept in lieu thereof the supplementary contract tendered, thus requiring future payments to be made at the same rate of $30 a month.

We are of opinion that the trial court did not have jurisdiction of the subject-matter, and therefore erred in denying appellant's motion to remand the cause to the state court. "The matter in controversy" was the amount for which appellant could recover judgment. That amount, which could not exceed $420, was much less than is required to confer jurisdiction on a federal District Court. It is true that in this action the question was involved whether appellee was liable for double indemnity on past-due installments, and that a decision upon that question would work an estoppel as to liability for future installments in an aggregate amount which would exceed the jurisdictional amount of $3,000. Cromwell v. County of Sac, 94 U. S. 351, 24 L. Ed....