Atlas Assur. Co. of London v. Fairchild

1935 OK 190, 43 P.2d 482, 171 Okla. 609, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 60
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 5, 1935
DocketNo. 24045.
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 1935 OK 190 (Atlas Assur. Co. of London v. Fairchild) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Atlas Assur. Co. of London v. Fairchild, 1935 OK 190, 43 P.2d 482, 171 Okla. 609, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 60 (Okla. 1935).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This action was instituted in the district court of Choctaw county by C. G. Messer, agent of W. A. Pairchild, as plaintiff, against the Atlas Assurance Company of London, as defendant, to recover on a fire insurance policy issued by the defendant to W. A. Fairchild, for a loss sustained by the said W. A. Pairchild by reason of the burning of the building upon which said policy of insurance was issued. For convenience the parties will be herein referred to as they appeared in the court below.

C. G. Messer, as agent for W. A. Pair-child, and appearing as plaintiff, filed his petition in the district court of Choctaw county on September 8, 1928, and caused a summons to be issued thereon and served on Atlas Assurance Company of London, as defendant. The plaintiff, C. G. Messer, alleged that he was the duly authorized, empowered, and acting agent for one W. A. Pairchild under and by virtue of a certain power of attorney with full power to sue, etc. He further alleged that W. A. Pair-child was the owner of a certain one-story frame building, located on lot twenty-one (21) block eight (8)„ in the town of Forney in the state of Oklahoma. And that the defendant insurance company issued its policy of insurance No. 292, insuring the said W. A. Pairchild against loss by fire on said building for the term of one year from the 7th day of February, 1927, to an amount not exceeding $400. That on the 1st day of October, 1927, and while the said W. A. Fairchild was still the owner and in pos'session of said property, it was completely destroyed by fire and that the reasonable value of the building, at the time, was $1,066. That he notified the defendant insurance company of the loss by a proof of loss, subscribed and sworn to on the 17th day of October, 1927, and that on November 23, 1927, the defendant denied all liability on account of said loss under its policy issued as aforesaid. The plaintiff prayed for judgment in the sum of $400, the amount of the policy. On October 8. 1928, the defendant insurance company filed its demurrer to the petition of the plaintiff, and among other grounds demurred that the action had not been commenced and was not being prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest. On October 27th, the plaintiff filed his motion to substitute W. A. Pairchild as plaintiff instead of O. G. Mess-er, agent for W. A. Pairchild, as plaintiff. Thereafter, and on January 23, 1929, the court ordered the substitution and overruled the demurrer of the defendant; and defendant excepted.

On January 26, 1929, plaintiff filed his first amended petition, in which the case was styled, W. A. Pairchild, Plaintiff, v. Atlas Assurance Company of London, Defendant. The amended petition substantially followed the original petition and asked for the same relief. Afterwards the defendant filed its answer denying generally all the allegations in the plaintiff's petition except such as are hereinafter admitted. It admitted that it is a corporation, that plaintiff was the owner of the property described in its petition, and the issuance of the policy of insurance thereon, that the building was damaged by fire on the 1st day of October, 1927, denied that its insurance policy was in force and effect at the time of the fire, denied the value of the building and the amount of damage, and alleged that plaintiff had failed to furnish a statement of loss, signed and sworn to within 60 days after the fire; that the action was not commenced within one year after the fire; that the action, in fact, was not commenced until after W. A. Pairchild was substituted as plaintiff, and denied any liability whatsoever. To this answer the plaintiff filed his reply, which was sufficient to controvert the issues presented in the answer.

It appears from the record that W. A. Pairchild, the plaintiff, departed this life on the 11th day of May, 1930, and a motion was filed in this action showing that no administrator had been appointed over the estate of the deceased, that he left surviving as his sole and only heirs Letcher B. Pair-child, wife, Ardmore, Okla.; Inez Pairchild, mother, Forney, Okla.; H. T. Pairchild, brother; Delia Tates, sister; Grace Gregg, sister; Charlie Pairchild, brother, and Jewell Reeder, sister. The address of each of these heirs is set forth in the motion. The motion was filed on November 5, 1930. On January 14, 1931, notice of hearing on the application was filed. On January 14, 1931, objection to revivor was filed by the defendant, Atlas Assurance Company of Lon *612 don. Wliat time this notice of application for revivor was served on the defendant does not appear from the record, but the objection to revive the action admits that defendant had notice that plaintiff would apply for an order reviving this action in the name of the heirs, and defendant’s attorney consented that the motion be taken up at the time it was heard and passed upon by the court.

On January 14, 1931, the court made its order reviving the action in the name of the above-named heirs of W. A. Eairchild. The defendant did not take any exceptions to the order of the court reviving the action in the name of the heirs. A jury was waived and the cause tried to the court, which rendered a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant, Atlas Assurance Company, in the sum of $300. The defendant filed, its motion for new trial, which was overruled by the court, and notice of appeal given and the appeal lodged in this court.

We deem it advisable to set forth this brief resume of the facts, as disclosed by the record, for the reason that five specific assignments of error' are made which will have to be considered separately, and the record in this case fails to disclose many dates that should be set forth. The record discloses that the original files were lost and copies were substituted. Many of these copies failed to show the date on which the originals were filed, but the court reporter has included in the record a transcript of the appearance docket, from which the date of the filing of many of the pleadings and other papers may be ascertained.

The defendant, plaintiff in error here, sets forth 13 specific assignments of error, but argues them under five specific heads. It will not be necessary to set forth each assignment of error as contained in the petition in error, but the five heads under which the defendant argues these assignments of error in his brief sufficiently cover the questions presented for this court’s decision. We will now take up the errors complained of as set forth in defendant’s brief.

“First. The trial court had no authority or power to substitute W. A. Eairchild as plaintiff in the suit, originally instituted by C. G. Messer, as agent for W. A. Eairchild, as the plaintiff, and the order purporting to make this substitution was illegal and void.”

We ao not agree with the contention of the plaintiff in error. Under section 251 of Oklahoma Statutes, 1931, our statute makes very liberal provisions for amendments. The section reads:

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Bluebook (online)
1935 OK 190, 43 P.2d 482, 171 Okla. 609, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 60, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/atlas-assur-co-of-london-v-fairchild-okla-1935.