FRAUDULENT CONVEYANCES - CHANGE OF BENEFICIARY OF LIFE INSURANCE POLICY FORMERLY PAYABLE TO INSURED'S ESTATE

Authors

Abstract

An insurance company filed a bill of interpleader to determine disposition of the proceeds of a term policy on the life of one Fitzpatrick, now deceased. Claimants are the administrator, representing creditors, and the deceased's two sons. The policy had been issued payable to insured's estate, but reserved the right to change the beneficiary. A few days before his death (by suicide) deceased sent the company an application for change of beneficiary to his two minor sons. He was then hopelessly insolvent, and the administrator claims that the change of beneficiary was a fraudulent conveyance within the terms of the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act. Held, that under the authority of Ionia County Savings Bank v. McLean a change of beneficiary in an insurance policy may be a "conveyance" within the fraudulent conveyance statute. However, the general policy of this state is to protect from claims of insured's creditors insurance for the benefit of his wife and children. This can be done by limiting the rights of creditors to the cash surrender value at the time of the transfer, as beyond that an insurance policy represents a mere expectancy. Since the policy involved in the present case had no cash surrender value, there was no conveyance of property in fraud of creditors. Equitable Life Assurance Society v. Hitchcock, 270 Mich. 72, 258 N. W. 214 (1935).

Recommended Citation

FRAUDULENT CONVEYANCES - CHANGE OF BENEFICIARY OF LIFE INSURANCE POLICY FORMERLY PAYABLE TO INSURED'S ESTATE, 33 Mich. L. Rev. 1108 (1935).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol33/iss7/16