12 Pa. Super. 195 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1899
Opinion by
The facts of this case are clearly and fully stated in the charge and need not be recited here. The first question is, whether the paper of June 22, 1896, was a “ designation ” of a beneficiaiy within the meaning of the charter and by-laws of the defendant corporation or was merely a testamentary paper requiring probate ? It has been suggested that the use of the present tense and the expression of the consideration for which it was given go to show that the maker intended it as a present assignment of money to become due after death. But it is unnecessary to go to that extreme. The designation of a beneficiaiy by a member of a benefit society is, in a sense, an act testamentary in character: Burst v. Weisenborn, 1 Pa. Superior Ct. 276. The claim of the beneficiary in such a case is not based on a contract with him, but upon the appointment made by the member, or the direction given by him for the payment of the money: Niblack on Benefit Societies, sec. 229. The validity of an appointment of this nature on the books of a savings fund society when authorized by its charter, was expressly affirmed in Knorr’s Appeal, 89 Pa. 93, notwithstanding
The second question is whether the decedent had a right to designate one as beneficiary who was neither a member of his family nor an heir, nor a blood relation, nor an affianced wife, nor a person dependent upon him ? He clearly had that right when he became a member, which was three years before the passage of the Act of April 6, 1893, P. L. 7. This is not denied, and could not be without coming in conflict with the decision of the Supreme Court in Maneely v. Knights of Birmingham, 115 Pa. 305. It was a contractual right, and, as the system of the society did not require that it be evidenced by a benefit certificate, it was as perfect as if such certificate had been issued to him, in winch the provision of the constitution
Judgment affirmed.