19 A.2d 569 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1941
Argued March 6, 1941. This is an appeal by plaintiff in an interpleader from judgment entered in favor of defendants. Plaintiff was named beneficiary in a beneficial certificate issued on May 14, 1936, by the Lithuanian Roman Catholic Alliance of America, a Pennsylvania corporation, and described therein as "cousin" of Juozas Slauzis, to whom the certificate, as a member of the association, was issued. Defendants are admittedly the insured's brother and sister. Slauzis died on November 27, 1936. Plaintiff brought an action in assumpsit against the association, and defendants gave notice that they claimed the benefits under the certificate. The association presented a petition to the court below, and a rule was issued to show cause why the parties should not interplead, and why the petitioner should not be permitted to pay into court the money or fund. An order for interpleader was made; the fund was paid into court; and an issue was framed to determine who was entitled to it. In the feigned issue Ludwikas Stasevicius or Louis Stascavage was plaintiff, and Maciej Slauzis and Rose Slauzis, brother and sister of deceased, defendants.
The case was tried by the court without a jury under the Act of April 22, 1874, P.L. 109, 12 Pa.C.S.A. § 688 et seq.
The trial court filed its decision, making findings of fact and conclusions of law, in favor of plaintiff, and directed the prothonotary to give notice, and if no exceptions were filed within thirty days after service of such notice to enter judgment for plaintiff. *423
Exceptions were filed by defendants, and after argument the court sustained the exceptions and directed judgment to be entered in favor of defendants. From the judgment which was entered, plaintiff has appealed.
The issues may be stated to be: (1) Was plaintiff an eligible or lawful beneficiary? (2) If not, are defendants or deceased's legal representative entitled to the fund?
As to the first proposition, we think it was established that plaintiff was not an eligible or lawful beneficiary, and that his designation in the certificate was invalid. Although the association admitted its liability on the certificate and paid the amount due thereon into court, the fund took the place of the association's liability, and the rights of the claimants were unchanged; and disposal of the fund must still be made according to the rules of the association and the law of the state. Grantv. Faires, Ex'r,
In Mizanin v. Mihuc, supra, we held that the association had waived the provision of its by-laws limiting the naming of a stranger to cases where there were no eligible relatives or dependents just as the association in Noble v. Police BeneficiaryAss'n,
In Petrik v. National Slovak Union et al.,
In the present case the court below found that plaintiff was not a cousin of deceased, and was not dependent on deceased. Meeting one or the other of these conditions was necessary in order for him to come within article 23, paragraph 1, of the association's by-laws. This paragraph together with paragraphs 7 and 8 of the same article are printed in the margin.1 As the *426 court below said, plaintiff having been described as a cousin of deceased, his designation as beneficiary was presumably in conformity with the by-laws of the association. There was nothing to indicate that the association or its officers knew that plaintiff was not in fact a cousin of the member, and it does not appear that the association did anything whereby it waived the provisions of its by-laws so that defendants may not avail themselves of the benefit of such laws.
The testimony relative to the relationship of plaintiff to deceased was conflicting. As there was competent evidence to support the finding of the court below, it is binding upon us, and must be accepted by plaintiff. Armstrong County v. Rearic,
In Mikesell v. Mikesell,
Plaintiff having been found by the court below not to have been a cousin of deceased, and not to have been dependent upon deceased, did not come within any of the classes set forth in article 23, par. 1, of the by-laws of the association which may be designated as beneficiaries.
The Act of May 20, 1921, P.L. 916, was repealed and replaced by the Act of July 17, 1935, P.L. 1092,
The designation of plaintiff having been invalid under the by-laws of the association, we turn to the by-laws of the association to determine to whom the proceeds of the certificate in such event are payable, as it cannot be said that there was any waiver by the association of its by-law requirements so as to preclude defendants from questioning the eligibility of plaintiff to be named as beneficiary by deceased. Moreover, plaintiff was not a lawful beneficiary under the provisions of any act of assembly whereby the fund might be distributed to him in accordance with law.
Under paragraph 8, art. 23, of the by-laws of the association, it is provided that, if a member designate as his sole beneficiary a person not permitted by the by-laws, *428 the benefit shall be disposed of as provided in article 23, par. 7.2 In paragraph 7 the order of precedence is given. There being no others entitled to preference, defendants, as brother and sister of the deceased member, are, under the provisions of the by-laws of the association, entitled to the fund, and the court below properly found for defendants.
As next of kin defendants would be entitled under the intestate laws of this state to the fund in the event it could be lawfully claimed by an administrator of the estate of the deceased member. But the by-laws of the association have provided for its disposition in just such a situation as has been disclosed in the present case, and there is no statutory enactment which prevents their operation. See Dickerson, Adm'x, v. Midvale BeneficialAss'n,
Under the facts found by the court below, defendants are entitled to the fund in accordance with the by-laws of the association.
Judgment is affirmed.
"7. If all the beneficiaries of a member of the Lithuanian R.C. Alliance should have died before his decease or if all should have forfeited their rights to his death benefit and if by any reason such a member should not have designated other beneficiaries as herein provided then the death benefit shall be paid to wife or husband, as the case may be, and if there are children, one half shall be paid to the widow or widower and the other half shall be equally divided among the children. If there is no wife or husband surviving, the benefit shall be payable to the following person or persons in order of precedence by grades as herein enumerated: 1. children by birth or legal adoption, 2. grandchildren, 3. parents of the deceased member, 4. parents of his mother, 5. parents of his father, 6. brothers and sisters, always persons living of each precedent grade receiving equal shares to the exclusion of all persons of all subsequent grades. If no relatives as herein above provided shall be living at the death of the member, the death benefit shall revert to the mortuary fund of the Lithuanian R.C. Alliance.
"8. Should a member of the Lithuanian R.C. Alliance designate as his sole or joint beneficiary a person not permitted by the by-laws of this organization, then the benefit or a part thereof made payable to such person shall be divided among other designated beneficiaries, and if there are none, shall be disposed of as provided in Article 23, Paragraph 7."