Insurance Law Commons^™

Taxation Of Annuity Contracts Under Federal Income Tax, Robert Meisenholder

Michigan Law Review

A number of questions dealing with the taxability of commercial annuity policies under death tax statutes have received judicial consideration. By contrast, only a few questions dealing with the taxability of these contracts under income tax laws have been raised before the courts. But the income tax problems are equally important in terms of tax liability. Moreover, they will in the future assume an even larger significance in view of the large number of annuity contracts of various types which have been issued and are now being offered by insurance companies. Accordingly some explanation of these problems is warranted.

Evidence - Admissibility Of Hospital Records As Business Entries, Robert C. Lovejoy

Michigan Law Review

As a defense to a suit on an insurance policy, the defendant insurer claimed that the plaintiff was intoxicated at the time of the fatal accident. Defendant offered in evidence a portion of the case record of the hospital to which plaintiff was taken after the accident, the record stating that he was "apparently well under influence of alcohol." Although it was duly authenticated under the federal statute permitting business entries to be used as evidence, this evidence was excluded by the trial court as being an observation rather than a diagnosis. Held, reversed. There was no basis for …

Judgments - Declaratory Judgments - Action For Declaration Of Noinliability Under Insurance Policy, Arthur M. Hoffeins

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff insurance company sought a declaratory judgment that the person to whom its insured had transferred his automobile was not protected by the policy for damages caused to others, such transfer without the consent of the plaintiff being contrary to the terms of the policy. Held, that since by statute the insurer was made directly liable to the injured party, plaintiff was not entitled to a declaration of noncoverage, since it could not isolate one defense and try it in advance, leaving undecided issues involving the negligence of the person to whom the automobile was transferred. New Amsterdam Casualty …

Negligence - The "Same Hazard" Principle - Nonliability In Event Of Injury From A Hazard Of Different Type From That Which Justified Imposition Of Duty To Use Due Care, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In a previous suit by plaintiff against a policy holder, defendant, who was the insurer and conducted the defense for the insured, rejected an offer made by plaintiff to settle the claim for less than the policy limit, which was $5,000. There was thereafter a verdict for plaintiff for $7,500, which was satisfied to the amount of $5,000. Plaintiff then brought an action against the defendant insurance company in the name of the policy holder to recover the remainder of the judgment on the ground that defendant was negligent in rejecting the plaintiff's settlement offer. Held, plaintiff stated no …

Taxation - Income Tax - Exemption Of Proceeds Of Insurance Policies Payable In The Form Of An Annuity, Wilbur Jacobs

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was the beneficiary of a life insurance policy payable in equal installments over a period of twenty years. The deferred payments had been substituted for payment of the face amount of the policy through an option in the policy exercised by the insured a short time before his death. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue included in gross income the amount by which each payment exceeded one-twentieth of the face amount of the policy on the theory that this excess was interest and hence not within the statute exempting insurance from gross income. Plaintiff sued to recover the tax paid. …

Insurance--Cash-Surrender Value--Mutual Mistake, H. P. S.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pleading--Nonjoinder Of Contract Plaintiffs, B. D. T.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mutual Insurance Contracts

Indiana Law Journal

Notes and Comments: Conflict of Laws

Insurance - Defenses Of Liability Insurer Against Third Party Injured By Assured Under Statute Giving Injured Party Right Of Action Against Insurer - Constitutionality, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, having recovered a judgment against insured defendant for injuries sustained in an automobile accident, filed a supplemental bill against defendant's insurer to recover the 'insurance money. The statute granting plaintiff this right provides that whenever damage occurs for which the insured is responsible, the liability of the insurer "shall become absolute," and upon his obtaining a judgment against the assured, the injured person shall be entitled to have the insurance money applied to satisfy the judgment. The insurer defended on the ground that the insured violated a condition of the policy by failing to cooperate in the defense of …

Taxation - Insurance Companies - Considerations For Annuity Contracts As "Premiums'' Received For Insurance Contracts, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The defendant commissioner of insurance refused to issue to plaintiff insurance company a certificate of authority to do business in Kansas unless plaintiff paid back taxes claimed to be due on considerations received for "annuity contracts" by the plaintiff, in Kansas, between 1927 and 1938 inclusive. The tax in question was "upon all premiums" received during the year, but the plaintiff contended the word "premiums" did not include considerations received for "annuity contracts." Plaintiff brought mandamus to compel defendant commissioner to issue a certificate of authority to do business. Held, three judges dissenting, that the word "premiums" included considerations …

La Enseñanza Del Seguro: El Seguro Y El Estado, Ralph H. Blanchard

Mario Diaz Cruz Pamphlets

Conferencia dictada ante la "Asociación de Aseguradores contra Incendio del Pacifico," EE. UU. de America, el 4 de Junio de 1941.

Primera conferencia anual sobre seguros, dictada en el "Fenn College," de Cleveland, EE. UU. de America, el 19 de Enero de 1942.

Insurance--Retention Of Premiums After Loss--Non-Existence Of Person Qualified To Receive Payment, H. P. S.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Taxation Of Insurance Trusts, Allan F. Smith

Michigan Law Review

The life insurance trust may take many forms and serve a variety of purposes, but for present purposes it may be defined as a trust, at least part of the corpus of which is a policy of life insurance, in which the duty of the trustee is to receive the proceeds of such policy and administer such proceeds as a trust. Such a trust, like any other, may be revocable or irrevocable, and may be funded or unfunded. These various types will be considered separately only where the tax results vary with the type. The present objective is to survey …

Attorney And Client - Illegal Practice Of Law - Activities Of Insurance Investigators And Adjusters Which Constitute Practice Of Law, Jay W. Sorge

Michigan Law Review

The defendant was an independent insurance adjuster and investigator who for more than seven years had been engaged in adjusting and investigating insurance claims for both insurance companies and claimants. He advertised in insurance periodicals and wrote letters to insurance companies to interest them in the service he rendered. He charged his clients on a fee basis and maintained his office at his own expense. Suit was brought to restrain him from practicing law without a license. Held, defendant could not give advice as to legal rights of either insurance company or claimant, but could communicate advice of counsel …

Insurance - Public Liability Policy - Liability Of Insurer For Punitive Damages And Penalties, Alfred I. Rothman

Michigan Law Review

Under an automobile liability policy, the defendant insurer paid the plaintiff, on his judgment against the insured, the amount of compensatory damages recovered for injuries. The insurer refused, however, to pay the additional sum awarded as double damages under a statute providing that the court in its discretion might award double or treble damages where the injury was caused by a violation of certain statutory rules of the road. By the terms of the policy defendant insurance company agreed to pay "all sums which the insured shall become obligated to pay by reason of liability imposed upon him by law …

Statutory Liability Of Insurance Agents

Indiana Law Journal

Notes and Comments: Statutory Law

Coverage Of Auto Theft Policy

Indiana Law Journal

Notes and Comments: Insurance

Appeals Procedure Under Old-Age And Survivors Insurance, Carl H. Harper, Bernard M. Niezer

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Problem Of Coverage, Charles J. Barnhill, William M. Bloom, W. Daniel Bretz Jr., John R. Danch

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Insurance - False Statements In Application - Implied Knowledge Of Insurance Company As Ground For Waiver, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In a suit by the beneficiary on a life insurance policy, the insurance company defended on the ground that the insured knowingly had made false statements material to the risk in his application and therefore the company had a right to rescind the contract. The insured's false statements were to the effect that he had never been refused insurance on a former application, whereas in fact the John Hancock Insurance Co. had rejected his application in the preceding year. Both the John Hancock Co. and the defendant insurer were members of a common agency which gave information to its members …

Insurance - Fire Insurance - What Is A Fire Loss, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's merchandise was insured by defendant against direct loss or damage caused by fire. In 1937 the Ohio River overflowed its banks and water entered the premises in which the assured stored his goods. While the employees of the assured were removing the goods to higher floors for protection against the flood, a near-by gasoline tank exploded and started a fire some five hundred yards from the building. The fire threatened destruction to the whole area, and in an effort to prevent this ruin, the fire department ordered the employees to quit their work because of the possible necessity of …

Taxation -Taxability Of Insurance Policies Under The Federal Estate Tax Where Possibility Of Reverter To Insured, Felicia I. Hmiel

Michigan Law Review

In 1920 decedent purchased a fifty-thousand-dollar life insurance policy, making his wife beneficiary and providing that if she predeceased him the proceeds should be payable to the executors of his estate. No power to revoke the policy or to change the beneficiary was expressly retained. The decedent predeceased the beneficiary and, in the assessment of the federal estate tax, the proceeds were included as part of his gross estate. The tax was paid, and plaintiff executor brought suit to recover an alleged overpayment of the estate tax because of the inclusion in the gross estate of the proceeds of the …

Taxation Of Annuity Contracts Under Estate And Inheritance Taxes, Robert Meisenholder

Michigan Law Review

A glance at any authoritative encyclopedia will confirm the fact that annuity transactions of one sort or another have existed since earliest civilized times. It was not until 1762, however, that the first insurance company of the world was established; at that time began the issuance of annuity contracts similar to our modem contracts. The popularity of such contracts has increased and decreased at various periods in Great Britain. But in the United States, they have assumed importance only since the beginning of this century and have attained a relatively widespread popularity only since the years of prosperity in the …

Insurance - Fraternal Benefit Policy - Who Is A "Dependent'', Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Deceased was an inmate of an old age home, having paid an entrance fee and signed an entrance contract in which the home reserved the right to discharge inmates at any time without reason upon refund of a proportionate amount of the entrance fee. Deceased lived in the home until his death. He had taken out a policy in a fraternal benefit association whose by-laws provided that "In the event of the death of all beneficiaries named in a certificate . . . the benefits shall be paid . . . [to the] . . . person or persons upon …

Appeal And Error - Bad Faith Of Counsel As A Basis For Granting A New Trial Where Fact That Defendant Was Insured Was Brought To Attention Of Jury, Raymond H. Rapaport

Michigan Law Review

It is generally agreed that the jury in a personal injury action should not be informed that the defendant is covered by indemnity insurance. The reasons for the rule are that the matter of insurance is irrelevant, and that the exposition of its existence is prejudicial. The jury is likely to grant more and larger verdicts for the plaintiff when it is known that an insurance company, rather than the individual defendant being tried, will have to pay the judgment. However, the fact that the defendant is insured reaches the jury in a multitude of ways. While direct evidence of …

Insurance - Insurable Interest - Occupant Or Possessor Of Realty, Raymond H. Rapaport

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued upon an insurance policy, issued to her by the defendant, covering a building in which she was conducting a merchandising business. The building was owned in fee by the plaintiff's father-in-law, who had told the plaintiff that she might occupy it so long as she wished, and that he intended to deed it to her and her children. Held, plaintiff had an insurable interest in the building. Liverpool & London & Globe Ins. Co. v. Bolling, (Va. 1940) 10 S. E. (2d) 518.

Insurance - Conditional Vendor's Insurance - Effect Of Repair By Or Restoration To The Vendee Or Sub-Vendee, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a Minnesota corporation, purchased the vendor's interest in an automobile sold under a conditional sales contract. The defendant insured the plaintiff against direct loss or damage to the automobile by collision and/or upset. The vendee, without plaintiff's knowledge or consent, sold the car to a sub-vendee who drove it to Texas, became involved in an accident, and sold the wreckage to a resident of Texas who purchased in good faith. The car was rebuilt and resold. Plaintiff sued for the loss caused by the collision. Held, plaintiff may recover even though the car was repaired by others prior …

Taxation - Income Tax - Insurance - Amounts Received By Stockholders Under Life Insurance Contract, C. V. Beck Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A corporation took out several policies of insurance on the life of its president, naming itself as beneficiary. Later, reserving the right to hypothecate the policies, it assigned them to a trustee who agreed to distribute the proceeds of the policies to the stockholders of record at the time of the president's death. At the death of the president the proceeds were paid by the insurance companies to the trustee who then paid them pro rata to the stockholders. At this time the corporation had on hand earnings equivalent to the amount of distribution, and there was no showing that …

Income Tax--Assignment Of Right To Renewal Commissions On Certain Life Insurance Policies--To Whom Taxable And When, Clarence Cornelius

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Liability Of A Life Insurance Company, After Settlement, In Respect Of Claims Previously Undisclosed, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

When the time comes to make good on a life insurance policy, must the insurer bestir itself to ascertain whether there be outstanding interests, presently unknown to it, which, if asserted, it would ignore at its peril; or may it safely make payment without delay to the person entitled thereto according to its own records?