Ponder v. Jefferson Standard Life Insurance

109 S.W.2d 946, 194 Ark. 829, 1937 Ark. LEXIS 241
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 8, 1937
Docket4-4803
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 109 S.W.2d 946 (Ponder v. Jefferson Standard Life Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ponder v. Jefferson Standard Life Insurance, 109 S.W.2d 946, 194 Ark. 829, 1937 Ark. LEXIS 241 (Ark. 1937).

Opinion

Butler, J.

The appellee insurance company instituted this proceeding* in the Pulaski' chancery court against the appellant, Nora D. Ponder, to recover judgment in the sum of $2,329.90, and caused to he issued out of that court a writ of garnishment directed to the Hercules Life Insurance Company thereby impounding in the hands of that company such moneys as might be due by it to the appellant, Nora D. Ponder. The complaint, as finally amended, alleged in brief that Edg’ar T. Ponder, in his life-time, had procured from appellee certain life insurance policies in the aggregate sum of $15,-000 -which were issued in reliance upon the truth of the statements made in the insured’s application, and that the premiums charged him were in accordance therewith; that, the insured died on December 7, 1935, and proofs of death were made and submitted by appellant who was the beneficiary named in the said policies; that, relying upon the statements made by the beneficiary in the proofs and those made by insured in his application, appellee paid the beneficiary the face of the policies less certain indebtedness due by the insured to it.

It was further alleged that each of the policies provided that if the insured’s age had been misstated, the only sums payable upon the death of the insured would be the amount which the premiums he paid would buy had his age been correctly stated; that the insured, in his application, and the beneficiary, in the proofs of death, knowingly, fraudulently and falsely misstated the date of insured’s birth as December 24, 1882, when, in fact, the true date was December 24, 1878; that relying upon the statement and in ignorance of its falsity, ap-pellee paid the appellant the face of said policies less the indebtedness due which was $2,329.90 more than the sum to which she was entitled. The complaint alleged further that appellee had no adequate remedy at law, that the Hercules Life Insurance Company was indebted to appellant, and concluded with a prayer for judgment in the sum above named with interest and for writ of garnishment, and that the garnishee be required to pay into the registry of the court so much of the money it held for the appellant as would satisfy the demands of appellee.

The garnishee answered admitting that it was indebted to the appellant in the sum of $8,733.42.

After the final amendment to the complaint and the response of the garnishee, the appellant, on June 15,1937, filed two pleadings; one, a motion to dismiss the garnishment and, the other, a demurrer to the jurisdiction and motion to transfer to a law court. Tbe trial court overruled the appellant’s motion to dismiss and the demurrer and motion to transfer to law, and, the appellant declining to plead further, judgment was rendered against her and the garnishee in the sum sued for with interest and costs. To this action of the court separate and several exceptions were saved and an appeal prayed and granted.

1. The motion to discharge the garnishment is based upon the provision of act No. 102 of the Acts of 1933, which act became effective on March 16 of that year. Except as to a retroactive application, this act has been held constitutional, both under our own Constitution and that of the United States, in the case of W. B. Worthen Company v. Thomas, 188 Ark. 249, 65 S. W. (2d) 917, 292 U. S. 426, 54 S. Ct. 816, 78 L. Ed. 1344, 93 A. L. R. 173. The appellee concedes the validity of that act, but contends it has no application to the instant proceeding; (a) that the act, properly construed, exempts from judicial process only those debts of the beneficiary for which he was liable before and at the time the insurance policies matured by reason of the insured’s death; and (b) that an obligation arising out of the fraudulent conduct of a beneficiary which may be made the basis for a recovery in a proper proceeding is not a debt within the meaning of the statute which provides that the proceeds of insurance policies shall be exempt from seizure under judicial process, because, it is said, it is one created by fraud.

In support of these contentions counsel for appellee in their brief have presented an ingenious argument which, in many of its aspects, is most persuasive of the harmful effects of the act, supra, and the injustice which might arise from its application. This argument might well be addressed to the General Assembly for a modification or a limitation upon the provisions of the' act. But we have nothing to do with those questions. It is for us to give effect to the act as written and derive the legislative intent from the language used. Counsel for appellee have cited Bull v. Case, 165 N. Y. 578, 59 N. E. 301, and Amberg v. Manhattan Life Ins. Co., etc., 171 N. Y. 314, 63 N. E. 1111, in support of its first contention. It is apparent from an inspection of those cases, however, that the New York statute is unlike our own. However just the reasoning of the court in those cases in denying the contention of the beneficiary, namely, that in all cases the proceeds of a policy after payment to the beneficiary are exempt from all legal process issued against the property of the beneficiary, they are not of controlling importance, as it is clear we are dealing with a statute different in its terms. Our statute,' § 7988, Pope’s Digest, provides:

“All moneys paid or payable to any resident of this state as the insured or 'beneficiary designated under any insurance policy or policies providing for the payment of life, sick, accident and/or disability benefits shall he exempt from liability or seizure under judicial process of any court, and shall not be subjected to the payment of any debt by contract or otherwise 'by any writ, order, judgment, or decree of any court, provided, that the validity of any sale, assignment, mortgage, pledge or hypothecation of any policy of insurance or of any avails, proceeds or benefits thereof, now made, or hereafter made, shall in no way be affected by the provisions of this act.” The language of the statute does not impose any limitation as to the time of the origin of the debt and for us to give to it the meaning for which the appellee contends would be to read something into it which the Legislature did not. In other words, it would be necessary by judicial construction for us to amend the statute and thus usurp legislative authority.

What we have said regarding appellee’s contention1 (a) applies with equal force to contention (b). The statute exempts from seizure under judicial process “any debt'by contract or otherwise.” This language exempts all debts of whatever nature and in whatsoever manner incurred. This all-inclusive exemption may be unwise and work injustice in cases, but with that we have no concern. We repeat that this is a matter to be addressed to the judgment of the General Assembly. We deem no authority necessary for our conclusion beyond the general rule of.statutory construction, but such courts as have passed upon statutes exempting from process the avails of insurance policies have declined to read into them any limitation not specifically expressed therein. State ex rel. v. Collins, 70 Okla. 323, 174 Pac. 568, 6 A. L. R. 603; Clark v. Lynch, 83 Hun 462, 31 N. Y. S. 1038.

2. The demurrer is as follows: “The defendant, Nora D.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

M. L. Sigmon Forest Products, Inc. v. Scroggins
465 S.W.2d 673 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1971)
Cruce v. Ark. State Hospital
409 S.W.2d 342 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1966)
Ponder v. Jefferson Standard Life Insurance
143 S.W.2d 1115 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1940)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
109 S.W.2d 946, 194 Ark. 829, 1937 Ark. LEXIS 241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ponder-v-jefferson-standard-life-insurance-ark-1937.