76 Neb. 643 | Neb. | 1906
On the 9th day of May, 1899, the Sovereign Camp of the Woodmen of the World, a fraternal-beneficiary association organized under the laws of this state, accepted the application of Charles Ogden, then residing in the city of Omaha, to become a member of said association, and on said day issued to him its certain beneficiary certificate by which it was provided that at his death the association would pay to Mabel P. Ogden, his wife, the sum of $2,000. Said Ogden thereafter became a member of Omaha Camp No. 16 of said fraternity, and paid all of the dues, charges and assessments required to continue him a member thereof in good standing until the assessment of Nov. 20,1903, which he failed and neglected to pay. Thereafter, on the 25th day of January, 1904, he died a natural death from an attack of apoplexy, and his widow, in whose favor the beneficiary certificate above mentioned was. issued, commenced an action in the district court for Douglas county to recover the amount alleged to be due thereon. Her petition was in the usual form, and was sufficient in substance to state a cause of action against the association. It was alleged therein, among other things, that at the time of his death her husband, Charles Ogden, was a member of said fraternity in good standing, and had paid all of the dues, charges and assessments made against him by said association. To this petition the association filed its answer, by which the allegation above quoted was denied, and it was affirmatively alleged that at the time of the death of the said Charles Ogden he had been and was suspended for the nonpayment of his December, 1903, assessment. The answer was full and complete, and set forth the articles of incorporation, the constitution and laws of the association, together with the call made for the delinquent assessment. It appears from the answer that the assessment in question was due on the first day of December, 1903; Jliat payment of the same could be made at any time before the first day of January thereafter; that
It is contended that the answer states’ á perfect defense to the plaintiff’s cause of action, and therefore the district court erred in sustaining the demurrer and rendering judgment against the association. We think this case is ruled by Chapple v. Sovereign Camp, W. O. W., 64 Neb. 55. The only difference between the facts in that case and the one at bar seems to he that there the member was delinquent in the payment of two or three assessments, while in the instant case he was delinquent in the payment of but one. In that case it was held that, when the by-laws of such an association expressly declare that the fact of delinquency in the payment of an assessment shall work a forfeiture of membership, no action of the camp is required to suspend such a member, and that he loses all his rights to the benefits of the fraternity by such delinquency.
It is contended by the defendant in error that the delinquent assessment of November 20, 1903, was not lawfully made, therefore Ogden could not be suspended for its nonpayment. The árgument is that the assessment in question appears to have been made by the sovereign commander and the chairman of the finance committee, and not by the sovereign camp or the board of directors, when such camp was not in session. Section 56 of the constitution and the laws of the association set forth in its answer provides, in substance, that in order to pay death losses, disability benefits, monument obligations and emergency fund, and sovereign camp general fund dues, every applicant admitted to membership prior to September 1, 1901,
Therefore the judgment of the district court is reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings according to law.
Reversed.