Opinion ID: 2196486
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: horton's estate rights

Text: Under the heading of Who Gets Paid, the insurance policy provides that [i]f claim payments are more than the balance of your debt, the difference will be paid to you or to a Second Beneficiary or to your [Dr. Horton's] estate.  (Emphasis supplied.) In pleading that she paid the balance due on Dr. Horton's loan with Brooks Ford, Horton pled facts showing that the balance of Dr. Horton's debt under the insurance policy was zero at the time she filed this lawsuit. Horton pled further that the amount still owed by Ford Life under the policy was $10,000. Pursuant to the foregoing policy provision, Horton has pled facts showing that as the successor to the estate of Dr. Horton, she has a right to the difference between any claim payments due under the policy at the time of Dr. Horton's death and the balance of Dr. Horton's debt, which she alleged was reduced to zero upon her repayment of Dr. Horton's loan to Brooks Ford. As a matter of law, Ford Life cannot escape paying the benefits due under the policy upon Dr. Horton's death solely because his successor fully paid the debt to Brooks Ford that Ford Life contracted to pay. In its brief, Ford Life claims that §§ 30-24,125 and 30-24,126 are not applicable because Horton has not shown that Dr. Horton's estate is less than $10,000. In an apparent effort to defeat any interest that Horton has in her claim against Ford Life, Ford Life argues that filings by Horton indicate Dr. Horton's estate is valued in excess of $10,000. Horton's affidavit as successor to Dr. Horton's estate alleges that the fair market value of the entire estate of the decedent [Dr. Horton], wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed ten thousand dollars. (Emphasis supplied.) Section 30-24,126 provides that anyone paying pursuant to an affidavit prepared under § 30-24,125 is not required to see to the application of the personal property or evidence thereof or to inquire into the truth of any statement in the affidavit. Ford Life, as one allegedly owing a debt to Dr. Horton's estate, upon payment of a debt owed to Dr. Horton's successor, is protected because it is not required to inquire into the truth of the statements in Horton's affidavit. Furthermore, as stated previously, a court can consider an exhibit attached to and made part of a petition in determining whether the petition states a cause of action. See, Braesch v. Union Ins. Co., 237 Neb. 44, 464 N.W.2d 769 (1991); Cagle, Inc. v. Sammons, 198 Neb. 595, 254 N.W.2d 398 (1977); Prucha v. Department of Motor Vehicles, 172 Neb. 415, 110 N.W.2d 75 (1961). Whether attached exhibits must meet certain statutory or other legal requirements in order to be used as proof of the allegations contained therein is a question we need not consider in reviewing an order sustaining a demurrer.