Case Name: Stella St. John, Appellant, v. Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, Respondent
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1909-05-05
Citations: 132 A.D. 515
Docket Number: 
Parties: Stella St. John, Appellant, v. Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, Respondent.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 132
Pages: 515–519

Head Matter:
Stella St. John, Appellant, v. Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, Respondent.
Fourth Department,
May 5, 1909.
Insurance — substitution of parties — when affidavit sufficient to show adverse claimants.
Affidavits on a motion for an order of substitution made by an insurance company sued on a policy payable to the insured at the end of fifteen years or, if he died before that time, to plaintiff as his wife, cur such other beneficiary as might be designated, examined and held, to warrant an order substituting the personal representatives of the" deceased as defendants in the place of the insurance company, as provided by section 820 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Williams and Robson, JJ., dissented, with opinion.
Appeal by the plaintiff, Stella St. John, from an order of the Supreme Court, made at the Jefferson Special Term and entered in the office of the clerk of the county of Jefferson on the 16th day of January, 1909, substituting another as defendant in place of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company.
The action is brought to recover the amount of a life insurance policy issued upon the life of Jay St. John. The respondent insurance company concedes its liability, but the insurance is claimed by both the plaintiff and the personal representative of the insured. The facts are fully stated in the opinion of Mr. Justice Williams. The appellant contends that they are insufficient to warrant the order, substituting the personal representative in the place of the insurance company, and appeals..
Francis P. Burns, for the appellant.
N. D. Yost, for the respondent.

Opinion:
Kruse, J.:
I think the order should be affirmed.
Section .820 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that in certain actions, among others such as this, a defendant may at any time before answer, upon proof by affidavit that a person not a party to the action.makes a demand against him for the same debt or property, without collusion, apply to the- court upon notice to that person and the adverse party for an order to_ substitute that person in-his .place, and to discharge him from liability, by paying the amount of "the debt into court. While a mere naked demand is . not sufficient to warrant the order,, I think the affidavits upon which the order was granted are sufficient to show the nature -of the claim and that there is reasonable doubt, as to the right of the plaintiff to the insurance moneys, as against the adverse claimants. Under such circumstances, the insurance company, should not be subjected to the hazard of .determining which is rightfully entitled thereto.
The order should be affirmed, with ten dollars -costs .and disbursements.
All concurred, except Williams and Robson, • JJ., who dissented in an opinion by Williams, J.