Decker v. Occidental Life Insurance

452 P.2d 686, 70 Cal. 2d 842, 76 Cal. Rptr. 470, 1969 Cal. LEXIS 371

Opinions

SULLIVAN, J.

In this action to recover amounts due and owing under a life insurance policy covering the unpaid balance on a contract of purchase and sale with the California Department of Veterans Affairs, defendant insurers appeal from a partial summary judgment (L.A. 29550) and from, a summary judgment (L.A. 29551) entered in favor of plaintiff and against said defendants.

After decision by the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Divisen One, reversing the summary judgment' and .dismissing the appeal from the partial summary judgment, we granted a hearing in this court for the purpose of giving further study to the issues raised. • Having made such study, we have concluded that the Court of Appeal has correctly disposed of the cause. Accordingly, the opinion of the Court of Appeal, authored by Justice Lillie and concurred in by Presiding Justice Wood and Justice Fourt, is adopted as and for the opinion of this court. Such opinion " (with appropriate deletions and additions as indicated) is as foltows :*

While married to plaintiff in August of 1955, Lloyd Decker purchased certain Culver City residential property through a contract of sale with the California Department of Veterans Affairs. With the latter’s consent, title to the property was assigned by Decker and plaintiff to themselves as joint tenants. As provided by law, there was issued by the department upon Decker’s application a Certificate of Life Insurance Home Protection Plan. Thereunder the defendant insurance companies obligated themselves to pay to the department, upon Decker’s death, the balance still owing under his contract of sale provided he then liad an insurable interest therein or was not otherwise in default. In February of 1963 plaintiff secured an interlocutory decree of divorce [by default] from Decker; by the terms thereof, after first reserving .the right to grant other and further relief at the time of entry of the final decree, “The Court [found] that the real property located at 10738 Flaxton Street, Culver City, is community property and award [ed] the said real property to the plaintiff. . . .’’No appeal was taken therefrom.

In July of 1963 (before entry of the final decree), Decker died. In February of 1964, upon plaintiff’s ex parte application, the court made a nunc pro tunc order adding the language “effective upon entry of the final decree’’ to that portion of the decree above quoted. Plaintiff then instituted the .instant proceeding to recover the amount owing on the contract which was insured against by defendants; the latter, by affirmative defense, contended that Decker’s interest in the real property had terminated prior to his death by virtue of the interlocutory decree awarding the family residence to plaintiff. Finding against such defense, the trial court rendered summary judgment in plaintiff’s favor wherein the unpaid balance was determined and judgment ordered against defendants in said amount. These consolidated appeals followed.¹

' The Certifieaté of- Insurance contains the following termination clause; ‘ The insurance automatically terminates when the purchase contract is paid in full or canceled, or when the insured's interest in the property has terminated, voluntarily, or involuntarily, by operation of law or otherwise, or when the Department of Veterans Affairs terminates its Master Agreement with the Insurance Companies. ’ ’ This clause is in keeping with the provisions of section 987.1, Military and Veterans Code, which authorizes the Department óf Veterans Affairs to provide veterans with the opportunity of acquiring farms and homes upon contract terms therein specified.² Such opportunity of farm and home acquisition is but one of the several- duties assigned the department since its succession to the responsibilities formerly vested in other agencies. (Mil. & Vet. Code, §70.) The statutory program is essentially one for the benefit of veterans • hence, the contract may not be assigned without the permission of the Department which is also empowered to increase the interest rates to assignees who are not veterans. (Mil. & Vet. Code § 987.01.) In this latter regard, "That the assignee here is the former " -wife of the veteran is not a factor in determining the rate of interest to be charged. Divorced wives of veterans are given no special benefits by the Military and Veterans Code, at least not with respect to farm and home purchases." (25 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 101, 103.) Any seeming harshness in the adverse determination we presently must make of plaintiff’s claims should accordingly be weighed against the above statutory scheme to which we cannot blind ourselves.

If the insured’s interest- in the subject property terminated with the interlocutory decree, the insurance in question wits also terminated. That such was the case is ■ clearly established by the controlling decisions, particularly Fritschi v. Teed, 213 Cal.App.2d 718 [29 Cal.Rptr. 114] (hearing by the Supreme Court denied) which, in pertinent respects, is apposite. Therein the court properly points out that a divorce court is empowered to render an interlocutory [decree] making immediate disposition of community property, citing Leupe v. Leupe, 21 Cal.2d 145, 148-149 [130 P.2d 697]. It is further therein pointed out that while some of the cases contain the “hortatory expression that an interlocutory decree should not attempt a final property distribution” (p. 723), such decisions were appeals from interlocutory judgments and, therefore, distinguishable. As here, there was no appeal from the interlocutory decree in Fritschi■ hence, “It is now conclusive, both because of lapse of time (Leupe v. Leupe, supra, 21 Cal.2d at p. 148) and because one of the parties died during the interlocutory period (Darter v. Magnussen, supra, 172 Cal.App.2d at p. 718 [342 P.2d 528]).” (Pp. 723-724.) To the same effect where death of the husband ensued during the interlocutory period is McClenny v. Superior Court, 62 Cal.2d 140 [41 Cal.Rptr. 460, 396 P.2d 916], where the court noted that “Although the death of one of the spouses in such a case abates the divorce action, the abatement relates to the status of the parties and not to the property rights theretofore •adjudicated.” (P. 144.)

The Fritschi ease was also concerned with other problems identical to those raised in the instant proceeding. Thus, as here, the interlocutory decree included a provision for the granting of further relief at the time of the entry of the final decree, and it was unavailingly contended that such language should be construed as a reservation of the court’s power to make an immediate disposition of the property in question. Again distinguishing the several decisions cited, the court concluded that the provision (for further relief) was mere surplusage, particularly in view of the fact that the dispositive provisions of the subject decree “were cast in the present tense, declaring that each party was ‘hereby’ awarded ■designated items.” (P. 725.) In our case, as noted earlier, the dispositive provision “awards” the subject residence to plaintiff; to suggest, as plaintiff does, that such award contains no language of immediacy, perilously approaches the frivolous. Finally, there is no merit to the contention that the nunc pro tunc order amended the decree and made it cdnstruable in plaintiff’s favor for the purposes presently being discussed; the time for appeal having expired, the decree was no longer subject to modification except in aecord- " ance with the methods applicable to judgment generally ' (Luepe v. Luepe, supra, 21 Cal.2d 145, 149-150), and such later order also erroneously sought to correct a judicial, not a clerical mistake. (See 29 Cal.Jur.2d, § 99, p. 13.)

As her final contention, plaintiff makes the following argument: Although an interlocutory decree may be free from attack after it has become final, such fact does not create an immediate conveyance of the property therein disposed [of] to the exclusion of her husband. She cites Vai v. Bank of America, 56 Cal.2d 329 [15 Cal.Rptr. 71, 364 P.2d 247], for the proposition that a husband retains some control over the former community property until the entry of the final decree; but there, unlike our case, no disposition of the community property had been made and the case is otherwise distinguishable. She also asserts, quite understandably, that since her husband had a continuing obligation to support her and her children, such responsibility would be affected by the status of title to the family residence. Earlier, however, we made mention of the statutory scheme behind the controlling legislation. Since its passage, the Department of Veterans Affairs has enacted certain regulations for the proper administration of its duties in the acquisition of farms and homes for veterans. (Title 12, Cal. Admin. Code.) Section 310 relates to the life insurance here in suit; thus, all qualified applicants (for farm or home purchase) are required to apply therefor, the acceptability of the applicant will be determined by the underwriting companies (defendants here), and the effective and automatic termination dates are provided for. Section 316 reads as follows: “Divorce or Legal Separation; Recognition of‘Purchaser.’

“(a) Upon the entry of an interlocutory decree of divorce or entry of a decree of separate maintenance of a veteran contract purchaser and his wife, the department will recognize the nonveteran wife as the sole purchaser provided the veteran’s entire beneficial interest is transferred to the wife and she agrees to: (1) actually reside in the home; (2) pay interest at the rate prescribed by the California Veterans Board for nonveteran assignees and the resulting increased installments; (3) apply for the Home Protection Plan.

‘ ‘ (b) Should the veteran retain his entire beneficial interest in the property after divorce or legal separation, he may continue as purchaser provided either he or his divorced wife continues to occupy the property.” Counsel for defendants has represented to us that ‘.‘.The Department, in keeping with the foregoing provisions of the; Administrative Code, has adopted thé practice for .many years,"upon entry of the interlocutory decree of divorce, to transfer the contract interest .of the spouse, whose interest is lost by the decree, to the remain ing spouse as of the date of the entry of the decree at such time as the Department becomes aware of the entry of the decree.” He then invokes the familiar rule that the contemporaneous administrative construction of the enactment by those charged with its enforcement will, unless clearly erroneous, be entitled to great weight by the courts. (Anders v. State Board of Equalization, 82 Cal.App.2d 88, 98 [185 P.2d 883].) Whether the provisions of section 316 were made known to plaintiff, we do not know; if they were, perhaps she simply refused to pay the increased installments required of the nonveteran. In any event, and in view of the peculiar legislation governing the instant transaction, we see no escape for plaintiff except continued compliance with the contract under the laws and regulations thereto applicable.

[Since in the divorce ease the trial court had the power to, and did, make an immediate disposition of the subject property and since such disposition, not having been challenged by either of the parties by an appeal from the interlocutory decree, is now final and conclusive upon them, the questions whether the court erred in so doing and whát rule of construction should be applicable to ambiguous interlocutory decrees, are not before us in this case.] [ ] .

[In L.A. 29550, the appeal is dismissed. In L.A. 29551, the summary judgment is reversed. Defendants shall recover costs on both appeals.]

. Traynor, C. J., Peters, J., and Tobriner, J., concurred/

Footnotes

*

Brackets together, in this manner [ ] without enclosing material, are used to indicate deletions from the opinion of-the Court of Appeal; brack ets enclosing material (other than editor’s added parallel citations) are, unless otherwise indicated, used to denote insertions or additions by this . court. We thus avoid the extension- of quotation marks within quotation ■marks, which would be incident to the use of such conventional punetua- . tion, and at the samé time accurately indicate the matter quoted: In so doing, we adhere to a method of adoption employed by us in the past. (See Chicago Title Ins. Co. v. Great Western Financial Corp. (1968) 69 Cal.2d 305, 311 [70 Cal.Rptr. 849, 444 P.2d 481], fn. 2, and cases there cited.). . .

1

In No. [29550] the appeal is from a partial summary- judgment ad- ... judging .the liability, of defendants under the subject policy but making s no , determination of-the amount due, thereunder. In No. [29551] the ap- . peal, is from the, summary, -judgment, subsequently entered, which dis poses (as hereinabove noted) of all matters requiring determination. Since it serves no useful purpose,' the first numbered appeal' must accordingly be dismissed. ■ .

2

Seetion 987.1, supra, reads:."The department.™ each individual case may specify .the.'terms of the contract entered into with the purchaser, but no property sold under the provisions of this article shall, voluntarily • or- 'involuntarily, -by operation ‘ of law or otherwise, be' transí erred,' assigned, encumbered, leased, let or sublet, in whole or in.part, without .the .written consent of the department, .until the purchaser has paid therefor in full and hs£s complied with all the terms-and conditions-of this-contract of purchase."’ ’ ..... . ...-'• ■