137 Ky. 83 | Ky. Ct. App. | 1909
Opinion of the Court by
— Affirming.
In 1884. the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company of Newark, N. J., issued to George W. Smith a policy of insurance for $3,000 in consideration of
The. only question before us is the correctness of the ruling of the court in dismissing the petition as to Agnew. It is conceded in the brief of counsel that Agnew did not have any insurable interest in the life of Smith, not being his creditor, or related to him in any way. Under the pleading the rights of the parties are to be determined by the written contract, and it is manifest from it, taking in connection with the fact that Agnew did not have any insurable interest in the life of Smith, that the contract was void and unenforceable in its inception and at all times thereafter. It has been settled by repeated decisions of this court that a person who has not an insurable interest in the life of another cannot take an assignment of an insurance policy upon such life. The authorities are fully collected in the case of Hess v. Segenfelter, 127 Ky. 348, 105 S. W. 476, 32 Ky Law Rep. 225, 14 L. R. A. (N. S.) 1172. As the contract was void — in fact, no contract — it is clear that a cause of action predicated upon it cannot be maintained, as the law will not enforce what it has forbidden and denounced., Bromley v. Washington Life Insurance Company, 122 Ky. 402, 92 S. W. 17, 28 Ky. Law Rep. 1300, 5 L. R. A. (N. S.) 747, 121 Am. St. Rep. 453. The case of Vaughan v. Reddick, 106 S. W. 292, 32 Ky. Law Rep. 531, relied on by counsel for appellants, does not support his contention.
In that case Vaughan, the insured, made a contract with Reddick, a stranger, to pay the premiums upon the policy and assigned the policy to him as
And so, if Agnew for a sufficient consideration had agreed to pay the premiums, and failed to do so, thereby causing loss to Smith, Smith cduld, as held in Vaughan v. Reddick, supra, sue him for a breach of -the contract and recover the damages he sustain
The petition does not charge that Agnew ever paid or agreed to pay any premiums, except in consideration of the fact that he was to become an equal owner in the policy with Smith, and receive in addition to the premiums he might pay one-half, of the amount received on the policy, and the attempt is to recover from Agnew one-half the’ amount of the policy, or, to be more accurate, that part of the policy that Smith was to receive under the contract. In other words, the legal effect of the contract is precisely the same as if Agnew had taken an assignment of the policy and agreed to pay Smith $100 or any other specified amount for it.
The judgment of the lower court dismissing the petition is affirmed.