Court Opinion

ID: 9792412
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:29:02.31921+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:42.710488
License: Public Domain

Lockett, J.,
dissenting: The effect of this decision will cause insurance companies, where an insured dies due to unexplained causes or under suspicious circumstances, to withhold payment of the proceeds of the policy. The proceeds of the policy would be withheld by the insurer until authorities have determined the insured died of natural causes. If the insured died under suspicious circumstances, the proceeds should be withheld until the insurance company’s investigator or the authorities determine that the primary beneficiary is not under suspicion for causing the death of the insured.
Interpleading will protect the secondary beneficiaries where the insured dies under suspicious circumstances and the primary beneficiary is suspected of killing the insured. It will also dissipate the proceeds of the insurance policy due to the cost of the action. We are in addition requiring the primary beneficiary in a civil action to prove (1) that the insured did not die under suspicious circumstances, or (2) that the primary beneficiary is beyond a reasonable doubt innocent of causing the insured’s death. The primary beneficiary would be required to defend in a civil suit even though he may never be prosecuted for causing the death of the insured.
If we are going to adopt the common-law rule we should also set forth what is a reasonable time for an insurance company to withhold payment of proceeds of the policy to the primary beneficiary or file an interpleader action. It would be reasonable for the insurance company to withhold payment of the policy proceeds to the primary beneficiary for a period of 30 days from the date of death for the State to determine if it is going to prosecute the primary beneficiary for the death of the insured. If *374prosecution is commenced within the 30-day period, the insurance company should file an interpleader action to determine if the primary beneficiary is barred from obtaining the policy proceeds.
I respectfully submit the judgment of the trial court should be reversed.
Schroeder, C.J., joins .the foregoing dissenting opinion.