Whitfield v. Aetna Life Ins. Co. of Hartford

Citations

• 205 U.S. 489
• 27 S. Ct. 578
• 51 L. Ed. 895
• 1907 U.S. LEXIS 1372

Syllabus

<p>If an insurance company does business in a State it must do so subject to such valid regulations as the State adopts.</p> <p>A State may adopt such public policy as it deems best, provided it does not in so doing come into conflict with the Federal Constitution; and if con,stitutional the legislative will must be respected, even though the courts be of opinion that the statute is unwise.</p> <p>The statute of Missouri, that suicide, unless contemplated when the policy was applied for, shall be no defense to actions on policies of life insurance, is a legitimate exercise of the power of the State; and- a stipulation in a policy, that the company shall only be liable for a portion of the amount in case of suicide, not contemplated when the policy was applied for, is void, and cannot be set up as a defense.</p> <p>' Whatever tends to diminish a plaintiff’s cause of action or to defeat recovery in whole or in part amounts in law to a defense.</p> <p>144 Fed. Rep. 356, reversed.</p>