Hefner v. Aetna Life Insurance

69 Pa. D. & C.2d 704, 1974 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 267
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedDecember 3, 1974
Docketno. 3832
StatusPublished

This text of 69 Pa. D. & C.2d 704 (Hefner v. Aetna Life Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hefner v. Aetna Life Insurance, 69 Pa. D. & C.2d 704, 1974 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 267 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1974).

Opinion

BOLGER, J.,

'William T. Hefner died on January 8, 1970. At the time of his death, he held a certificate booklet which evidenced that his lifé was insured under a group insurance policy carried [705]*705by his employer with the Aetna Life Insurance Company (hereinafter called “Aetna”). In this booklet, his wife, Loretta R. Hefner, is named beneficiary of his group life insurance. The case at bar is an interpleader action wherein Mr. Hefner’s mother, Ethel K. Hefner, has laid claim to the proceeds of the group fife insurance in question. She has done so on the grounds that at one time she had been designated beneficiary of the said insurance, and that any change in that designation which appears in the certificate booklet held by her late son at the time of his death is the result of a clerical error rather than an intentional act on his part.

This case was heard by the court, sitting without a jury, on April 23,1974. The insurance proceeds were awarded to the wife on April 29,1974. The mother filed exceptions which were heard by the trial court, sitting alone, on August 2, 1974. The exceptions were dismissed on October 4, 1974. The wife entered judgment upon the finding in her favor. The mother has appealed to the Superior Court. The following is the memorandum opinion sur the mother’s exceptions.

Of the five exceptions filed by the mother, only number 2 and number 3 state precise objections to the award in favor of the wife. Exception number 2 “. . . excepts to the Order of the Court because no testimony was presented to the Court showing that the deceased had ordered a change of beneficiary.”

Exception number 3 “. . . excepts to the Order of the Court because the only testimony showing how and what was intended to be given was by the Personnel Manager in charge of the Group Insurance Policies who testified that there had been no change of beneficiary of the Group Insurance Policy No. 40239.”

In passing upon exception^ such as these, it is not the function of the court to reweigh the evidence and sustain or dismiss them because it now considers a different result more reasonable: Hilliard v. Anderson, 440 Pa. 625, 628 (1970). Rather, the award in favor [706]*706of the wife can be disturbed only if it . . is so contrary to the evidence as to shock one’s sense of justice and . . . (an order sustaining the exceptions) is imperative so that right may be given another opportunity to prevail”: Burrell v. Philadelphia Electric Company, 438 Pa. 286, 289 (1970). See also Kennedy v. Faush, 217 Pa. Superior Ct. 13, 17 (1970).

Among the documentary evidence offered by the wife is the certificate booklet referred to above, which was in her husband’s possession at the time of his death and names her as beneficiary of his group life insurance. This designation appears on a piece of paper, frequently referred to as an Insert A, which is part of the booklet. The booklet was issued by Aetna. Its front page bears the legend:

“The insurance described in this Certificate replaces and supersedes the insurance in any and all certificates and riders previously issued for the employee under any and all group policies issued by Aetna Life Insurance Company. The name of the Employee and Beneficiary, the effective date of this Certificate and the amount of certain benefits appear on the accompanying INSERT A.”

Insert A was prepared by clerks in the office of the employer’s Director of Employee Relations. At the bottom of it, there is the following endorsement:

“This insert replaces any and all inserts that may have been issued previously for the above named employee by Aetna Life Insurance Company under the policies specified above.”

On or about August 9, 1962, Mr. Heftier had designated his mother as the beneficiary of the group life insurance in question. She offered the testimony of the employer’s Director of Employee Relations in an effort to establish that the change in the designation of beneficiary reflected in the certificate booklet held by her son at the time of his death was the result of a mistake on the part of a clerk in the former’s office.

[707]*707On or about May 1, 1969, Mr. Hefner’s employer arranged for an extension of the coverage afforded to its employes under its group policy with Aetna to include major medical benefits in addition to the life insurance coverage which they had enjoyed prior to that time. Aetna supplied cards to the employer which were then provided to the employes for their use in signifying their election to accept or reject major medical coverage for themselves, their spouses and their other eligible dependents. These cards bore the following endorsement:

“I request my employer to arrange for the issuance of Group Insurance for which I am, or may become, eligible and, as to contributory insurance, authorize my employer to deduct from my earnings the required contributions.”

Mr. Hefner filled in the boxes provided on one of the said cards under the foregoing endorsement, whereby he requested dependent’s coverage; indicated that he had a spouse whose birth date was April 1, 1934; and indicated that he had two or more children. In addition to filling in the said boxes, he filled in the said lines with the name of his wife, her relationship to him — wife, and her address. These last three entries on the card provided by Aetna have given rise to the case at bar.

“In considering group insurance transactions, it is held that the employer acts as the agent of the employees and not of the insurer: . . .”: McFadden v. Equitable Life Assurance Society, 351 Pa. 570, 575 (1945). The wife made out a prima facie case for recovery of the proceeds of the insurance in question when she produced the certificate booklet with the Insert A naming her as beneficiary. As a result thereof, the burden rested upon the mother to prove that her late son had not intended to designate his wife as the beneficiary of his group life insurance: McFadden, supra, at page 575. “The standard of such proof is that [708]*708it should be clear, precise and indubitable in the sense that it carries conviction to the mind: . . .”: Burt v. Burt, 221 Pa. 171, 173-74 (1908). Beyond the application of the foregoing general principles, it is dangerous to attempt to formulate and apply artificial rules in the type of case now at bar: McGinniss Appeal, 190 Pa. Superior Ct. 138, 144 (1959). Each such case is sui generis.

The employer’s Director of Employee Relations did not intend that any markings made by Mr. Hefner upon the card supplied by Aetna should have the effect of changing the designated beneficiary of the latter’s group life insurance. As a result of the addition of major medical coverage to the existing life insurance coverage, Aetna issued a new certificate booklet for Mr. Hefner. The office of the Director of Employee Relations prepared the new Insert A which formed part of the new certificate booklet and forwarded them both to Mr. Hefner. The only explanation which the Director of Employee Relations could offer for the change in beneficiary which appears on the face of the new Insert A is:

“I can only assume, in retrospect, that, rather than go to another card in a separate file, the typist went to this card because there was in fact an Insert A prepared and issued and sent to the home of Mr. Hefner naming Loretta as beneficiary.”

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Related

Hilliard v. Anderson
271 A.2d 227 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1970)
McFadden v. Equitable Life Assurance Society of United States
41 A.2d 624 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1944)
Burt v. Burt
70 A. 710 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1908)
Burrell v. Philadelphia Electric Co.
265 A.2d 516 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1970)
McGinniss Appeal
152 A.2d 784 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1959)
Kennedy v. Faush
268 A.2d 209 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1970)

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Bluebook (online)
69 Pa. D. & C.2d 704, 1974 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 267, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hefner-v-aetna-life-insurance-pactcomplphilad-1974.