Sullivan v. Supreme Council of Catholic Mutual Benefit Ass'n

Citations

• 266 Pa. 57
• 109 A. 604
• 1920 Pa. LEXIS 499

Syllabus

<p>Beneficial associations — Death benefits — Good standing of member — Burden of proof — Evidence—Case for jury.</p> <p>1. In an action against a beneficial association to recover death benefits, the burden of showing that deceased was not a member in good standing at the time of his death, rests on the defendant.</p> <p>2. In such a case a judgment on a verdict for plaintiff will be sustained, where the defense is that the deceased died in September without having paid his dues for August, and the evidence is that the secretary, who was dead at the time of the trial, was in the habit of receiving dues both at the place of his employment and at meetings, and of entering them up afterwards; that in September the books showed a payment by deceased; that the secretary in his report for August gave a list of members not in good standing, in which the name of the deceased was not included although no entry of payment for August appeared in deceased’s pass book.</p>