Smith v. Wilson

Summary

The Florida appellate court affirmed a judgment awarding life-insurance proceeds to Inez Wilson rather than the formally designated beneficiary, Lucille Smith. Although Evans’s attempted beneficiary change did not strictly comply with the policy, the court declined to apply strict compliance because Evans intended to benefit Wilson and any failure resulted from the City’s conduct as the insurer’s agent.

Holdings

1. Although Florida law generally requires strict compliance with a life-insurance policy's requirements for changing a beneficiary, the court declined to apply that rule where the insured clearly intended the change, believed he had done everything necessary to effectuate it, and the failures in filing, signing, and dating the change were attributable to the City acting as the insurer's agent rather than to the insured.

Questions Presented

1. Whether an insured's attempted change of life-insurance beneficiary may be given effect despite failure to strictly comply with the policy's requirements when the insured clearly intended the change and the noncompliance resulted from the insurer's agent.

Disposition

affirmed