MATURED POLICY

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21207, 2 September 1940, Page 10

MATURED POLICY

GIRL S CLAIM SUCCEEDS FATHER AS DEFENDANT (By Telegraph.— special to Times) WELLINGTON, Saturday Judgment was delivered by Mr Justice Smith in the Supreme Court, Wellington, in a case in which Norma Joyce Walker, aged 18, by her j guardian-ad-litem, sued her father, Norman Eric Walker, marine engin- | eer, of Wellington, claiming a de- ! claration that her father was a j trustee for plaintiff of a policy of in- | surance issued on the life of de- j fondant, or of the moneys payable thereunder. His Honour said the policy was applied, for before the birth of the j child, but issued after that event, j The policy was for £SOO, and matured with bonuses on May 26, 1940, and there was now payable upon it the sum of £685. “The premiums,” the judgment continued, “have been kept paid throughout the term of the insurance policy. Husband and wife had a dispute in 1922, when the husband told the wife she could pay the premiums. They each claim to have paid the premiums between 1922 and

1931. Because of the lapse of time, this difference could not be settled by evidence from the insurance company. Payment of Premiums “On the whole, I think the wife paid a considerable number, if not all, of the premiums during this period. It is not in dispute that the husband paid them from 1931 onward. No assignment of the policy has ever been carried out or even suggested. The defendant claims the policy, as his absolute property, j “I hold,” His Honour concluded, j “that the plaintiff is entitled to a declaration that the defendant is a I trustee for the plaintiff of the policy ! of insurance and of the moneys pay- ! able thereunder. As the plaintiff is ! still a minor, an order should be [ made directing the defendant to j pay the moneys to the Public Trustee 1 or such other person as the Court i may direct, so that the defendant ! may receive a proper discharge, j Section 69 of the Life Insurance Act, 1908, enables the Court to make appropriate orders, but as this matter has not been dealt with in detail, liberty to apply is reserved to both parties.”