Ueberroth v. Unangst

Citations

• 182 Pa. 59
• 37 A. 935
• 1897 Pa. LEXIS 769

Syllabus

<p>Insurance — Life insurance — -Assignment of policy — Practice—Pleading —Parties.</p> <p>In an action of assumpsit by an administrator the statement of claim set out that plaintiff’s intestate had pledged two policies of insurance upon his life as collateral security for the payment of his promissory note; that the defendant bought the note from the payee, who thereupon reassigned the policies of .insurance to the debtor, and the latter, at the request of defendant, assigned them to his daughter, defendant’s wife, to hold as security for the payment of the debt; that on the death of plaintiff’s decedent the insurance company paid the amount of the policies to the assignee, defendant’s wife, who thereupon indorsed the check to defendant who received the money and refused to pay it over to plaintiff, though demand for it, less the amount due on said debt, had been frequently made. The affidavit of defense admitted the material averments of the statement, but alleged that the surplus of the policies after the payment of the debt and premiums had been given by the decedent to defendant’s wife, and that the surplus was held by defendant subject to his wife’s direction, and partly invested in her name. There were no other pleadings, and the case went to trial without the defendant’s wife having been made a party. A judgment was entered against the defendant. Held, that the judgment could not be sustained, as it exposed the defendant to the danger of having to pay the same debt twice.</p>