Is the beneficiary of a life insurance policy entitled to the proceeds of the policy to the beneficiary when the beneficiary is innocent of any wrongdoing?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Weil v. Federal Kemper Life Assurance Co., 27 Cal.Rptr.2d 316, 7 Cal.4th 125, 866 P.2d 774 (Cal. 1994):

Other courts have emphasized their concern for the innocent beneficiary. Thus in Brown v. American Intern. Life Assur. Co., supra, 778 F.Supp. 912, 918, the federal court recently rejected the "public policy" argument on the ground that "the beneficiary is innocent to the act. No one contends that plaintiff [beneficiary] played any role in his wife's criminal scheme. Rather, he paid monthly premiums to the insurance company and reasonably expected that he would receive the proceeds of the policy. Against this backdrop, where a beneficiary is innocent of any wrongdoing, the concern of encouraging crime is outweighed by these considerations."

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