Case Name: SEITZ v. BOLLES
Court: Michigan Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1933-03-02
Citations: 262 Mich. 241
Docket Number: Docket No. 129, Calendar No. 37,017
Parties: SEITZ v. BOLLES.
Judges: McDonald, C. J., and Clark, Sharpe, North, Fead, Wiest, and Btitzel, JJ., concurred.
Reporter: Michigan Reports
Volume: 262
Pages: 241–243

Head Matter:
SEITZ v. BOLLES.
Insurance — Insurable Interest — Husband and Wife — Garnishment.
Where husband deeded lots to trust company, his wife purchased lot from trust company which he allegedly conveyed by mistake, built house thereon and sold property on contract, vendees insured house, loss, if any, payable to wife and vendees, as their interest might appear, husband had no insurable interest in said property, and therefore insurance .money was not garnishable for his debt, although he signed proofs of loss at instance of insurance company to preclude his making any claim under policy.
Appeal from Monroe; Bathbun (G. Arthur), J., presiding.
Submitted January 12, 1933.
(Docket No. 129, Calendar No. 37,017.)
Decided March 2, 1933.
Garnishment proceedings by Harry J. Seitz, receiver of Dansard State Bank, against William Bolles, principal defendant, and Fidelity & Guaranty Fire Corporation, a foreign corporation, garnishee defendant. Dorothy Bolles intervened as third-party claimant to the fund. Judgment for intervener. Plaintiff appeals.
Affirmed.
Golden, Nadeau & Fallon, for plaintiff.
George 8. Wright, for intervener.

Opinion:
Potter, J.
Plaintiff sued defendant William Bolles in assumpsit. A writ of garnishment issued to Fidelity & Guaranty Fire Corporation. It disclosed liability for loss under an insurance policy. Dorothy Bolles, wife of defendant William Bolles, intervened and claimed the fund in controversy. The trial court sustained her claim. Plaintiff appeals. Defendant William Bolles owned land in Monroe county. He desired to plat and sell it. To carry out his plan, the property was deeded to the Commerce Guardian Trust & Savings Bank of Toledo, Ohio, in trust. Subsequently a new trustee was appointed. Dorothy Bolles, wife of William Bolles, the principal defendant, bought a lot from the trust company and built a house thereon. She sold this house and lot on land contract to George D. and Jeanette T. Wuerfel. The Wuerfels defaulted in payments to be made on the contract. Notice of forfeiture of land contract was given. Before Dorothy Bolles recovered possession of the premises, the house burned. The land contract purchasers had insured the house and contents in Fidelity & Guaranty Fire Corporation, loss, if any, payable to Dorothy B. Bolles, George D. Wuerfel, and Jeanette Wuerfel, as their interest might appear. Defendant William Bolles joined with the insured iii making proof of loss under the policy. He verbally claimed the lot was deeded by him to the trust company by mistake. His signature was included on the proof of loss by the adjuster for the insurance company to shut him off from making any claim under the policy. After the adjustment, plaintiff sued William Bolles and garnisheed the insurance company. The trial court held the proceeds of the insurance policy belonged to Dorothy B. Bolles.and George D. Wuerfel and Jeanette Wuerfel his wife, that William Bolles had no insurable interest in the property, and plaintiff was not entitled to recover in the garnishment proceedings. We think the trial court was correct.
Judgment affirmed, with costs.
McDonald, C. J., and Clark, Sharpe, North, Fead, Wiest, and Btitzel, JJ., concurred.