LAWANDA BROCKTON, APPELLANT,
v.
SOUTHERN LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1989-12-12
No. 89-826
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BARKDULL and NESBITT, JJ.
556 So. 2d 1138 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1989) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

Lawanda Brockton purchased a life insurance policy on her niece DeVonne Robinson and named herself as beneficiary. When Robinson died, the insurance company denied the claim on grounds that Brockton lacked insurable interest. The court reversed, holding that Brockton's lifelong familial relationship with her niece, including growing up together and maintaining financial interdependence, established sufficient insurable interest to validate the policy.


Holding

The court held that Brockton possessed the requisite insurable interest based on her lifelong familial relationship with Robinson, which arose from natural affection and their practical familial connection. The insurable interest requirement was satisfied as a matter of law, negating any inference that the policy was merely a wager.


Headnotes

[1] An insurable interest in a life insurance policy arises when the beneficiary has a cognizable interest, whether pecuniary or arising from natural affection, in the life o…

[2] A familial relationship, including one where the beneficiary and insured grew up together in the same household and provided financial support to one another, can establi…

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Key Quotes

“insurable interest...arises whenever a potential beneficiary has a cognizable interest, whether pecuniary or 'arising from natural affection, in the life of the insured.'”

Establishes the legal standard for insurable interest in Florida law

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Facts & Procedural History

Brockton purchased an insurance policy on her niece Robinson's life, naming herself as beneficiary. Brockton's mother Katherine had originally maintai…

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Opinion of the Court
SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge.

SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge.

The appellant, Lawanda Brockton, purchased an insurance policy on the life of her niece, DeVonne Robinson, naming herself as beneficiary. When Robinson died shortly thereafter, Brockton brought this action for the proceeds. The carrier, Southern Life, won a summary judgment in its favor which is defended here1 solely on the ground that Brockton had no insurable interest in Robinson’s life. We reverse on the directly contrary holding that the record conclusively established the existence of such an interest as a matter of law.

It is well established in Florida that the “insurable interest” which is universally regarded as indispensable to the enforceability of an insurance contract, see § 627.631, Fla.Stat. (1987), so as to preclude the existence of a merely betting interest in someone else, see 30 Fla.Jur.2d Insurance § 477 (1981); 43 Am.Jur.2d Insurance § 976 (1982), arises whenever a potential beneficiary has a cognizable interest, whether pecuniary or “arising from natural affection, in the life of the insured.” Independent Life & Accident Ins. Co. v. McKenzie, 503 So. 2d 376, 378 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), review denied, 515 So. 2d 230 (1987); 30 Fla.Jur.2d Insurance § 486. The latter requirement is clearly established in this record. It demonstrates that the appellant Brockton, the aunt, who was actually somewhat younger than the decedent niece, grew up with her in the same household in Miami, headed by Brockton’s mother and Robinson’s grandmother, Katherine, who had herself maintained the instant policy on Robinson until Katherine died. Shortly thereafter, it was reinstated by Brockton. Indeed, when the mother expired, Brockton became the practical head of the household of which Robinson, although she had moved away at the time of her death, remained at least nominally a part. Brockton and Robinson had a lifelong familial relationship with each other2 which included, as might be expected, the fact that they lent money to one another during its course. On these facts, we find no difficulty in concluding that the Brock-ton-Robinson contact was more than sufficient to negate the possibility that the insurance policy was only a wager by the one upon the life of the other and, to the contrary, to establish that the aunt had the requisite insurable interest on the niece’s life so as to validate the policy.3 See Clayton v. Indus. Life Ins. Co., 162 Pa.Super. 77, 56 A. 2d 292 (1948); Cronin v. Vermont Life Ins. Co., 20 R.I. 570,40 A. 497 (1898); Smith v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 123 S.W. 2d 956 (Tex.Civ.App.1938); 2 J. Appleman, Insurance Law & Practice § 822 (1966); 44 C.J.S. Insurance § 204 (1945).4

For these reasons, the judgment below is reversed and the cause remanded for appropriate disposition of the issues undetermined by this opinion.5

Reversed.

. As is impliedly conceded, the other basis which the carrier asserted below — an alleged misrepresentation in the application for the policy — presented a jury question at best. See Columbian Nat’l Life Ins. Co. v. Lanigan, 154 Fla. 760, 19 So. 2d 67 (1944).

. The fact that the two were apparently not on friendly terms at the time of Robinson’s death has no effect on the legal issue of whether their overall relationship gave rise to an insurable interest.

. We are not uninfluenced by the fact that the reinstatement of the policy and the payment of the premium by Brockton were secure by the carrier’s debit man who was familiar with the members of the family and the relationship with each other and who secured Brockton’s agreement to pick up the policy which her mother had previously maintained during her lifetime.

. Although the rule seems consistent with Florida’s general approach to the problem, it is not necessary for us to decide directly whether we should adopt the rule of several other jurisdictions that, without more, an uncle-aunt-nephew-niece blood relationship is alone sufficient to establish an insurable interest. National Life & Accident Ins. Co. v. Davis, 179 Ark. 621, 17 S.W. 2d 312 (1929); Mohr v. Prudential Ins. Co., 32 R.I. 177, 78 A. 554 (1911); Cronin, 20 R.I. at 570, 40 A. at 497; but cf. Life Ins. Co. of Georgia v. Lopez, 443 So. 2d 947 (Fla.1983) (dictum that beneficiary had no insurable interest in aunt by marriage).

. See supra note 1.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Costa DEL SOL Ass'n, Inc. v. State, 987 So. 2d 734 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008)
    …nd cannot use, and from which they derive no benefit — indeed, in which they apparently have no insurable interest which would even permit their maintenance of valid insurance. See § 627.405, Fla. Stat. (2006); Brockton v. S. Life & Health Ins. Co., 556 So. 2d 1138, 1139 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Corat Int’l, Inc. v. Taylor, 462 So. 2d 1186, 1187 n. 2 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985), review denied, 471 So. 2d 44 (Fla.1985). Finally, the ruling is contrary to previous rulings of the Division itself. See Four Sea Suns Condominium…

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