Home/E.D. Washington/Picken v. United States

Picken v. United States

194 F. Supp. 696, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3025
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Washington
DecidedApril 19, 1961
DocketCiv. No. 1972
StatusPublished

This text of 194 F. Supp. 696 (Picken v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Picken v. United States, 194 F. Supp. 696, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3025 (E.D. Wash. 1961).

Opinion

POWELL, Chief Judge.

This is an action on a National Service Life insurance policy. The United States has paid the proceeds to the third party defendant. In the event the plaintiff is successful, the United States in a cross claim seeks recovery of the amount it has paid from the third party defendant.

James F. Picken, the insured, on or about December 1, 1947, converted his then existing National Service Life insurance policies and was issued a new policy, No. V 11 043 043, in the amount of $10,000. That is the policy involved in this case. On May 24, 1949, the insured wrote a letter to the Veterans Administration referring to that policy by number and designating “my brother Bruce F. Picken of Tonasket, Washington, to be my benefactor.” At all times prior to, and at the time of insured’s death, Bruce F. Picken was named in the policy in the records of the Veterans Administration as the beneficiary.

Plaintiff, Thelma I. Picken, and the insured, James F. Picken, were married on September 23, 1957. She was his wife at the time of his death on January 14, 1958. On that date National Service Life Insurance policy No. V 11 043 043 was in full force and effect with all premmiums.

The insured mailed a letter to the Veterans Administration at Fort Snelling, St. Paul, Minnesota, dated October 25, 1957, in the handwriting of the insured and with it a check for $45.00. The plaintiff’s contention is that the letter constituted a change of beneficiary to the plaintiff, Thelma I. Picken, in accordance with the provisions of the policy. The receipt stamp on the back of the letter shows it was received by the Veterans Administration, Administrative Division, Receipt and Dispatch Unit, on November 4, 1957. The letter and the check both referred to policy No. V 043 12 156. This was not the correct policy number.

The letter was opened in the regular course by an employee of the Veterans Administration designated to perform that service, and in reading the hand written letter and check the last name was read as “PICHEN.” Due to the illegibility of the handwriting of the insured his name throughout the processing of the letter and check was consid[698]*698ered to be “Pic/ien”, the “k” in the manner written being read as an “h”.

The letter, the check and the policy pro visions are set forth as follows:

[699]*699

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Bluebook (online)
194 F. Supp. 696, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3025, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/picken-v-united-states-waed-1961.