Opinion ID: 1974156
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Exclusion Of Life Insurance Proceeds From Equitable Distribution

Text: Appellant further contends that the trial court erred in not equitably distributing the proceeds of a life insurance policy which appellee cancelled in 1986. The master's recommendation at page 14 refers to the policy proceeds having gone solely to appellee, but gives no explanation as to why this amount was excluded from the distribution, when the cash value of the life insurance policy was marital property. Lindsey v. Lindsey, 342 Pa. 72, 492 A.2d 396 (1984). The opinion of the trial court at page 10 mischaracterizes this as a loan and a liability to appellee, when the record discloses unequivocally to the contrary that in actuality appellee took as a disbursement to his own use $16,691.45 from marital property in the form of the cash surrender payment on the policy with the intent not to repay the insurance policy. (N.T. 6/30/89 at 134A-136A and 179A). In such situations, the court should properly charge the spouse who took the assets with the amount that should have been included in the distribution. Semasek v. Semasek, 509 Pa. 282, 502 A.2d 109 (1985). It is possible that this value has already been included in the distribution indirectly. If the money was invested in the dental business or used to purchase other assets included in the distribution, any part of the proceeds thus accounted for would already be in the distribution, and could not be double-entered for equitable distribution purposes. Hence, on remand, the trial court must redetermine the includability of policy proceeds in the equitable distribution.