Carballo v. McFann

McCOMB, J.

Prom a judgment in favor of plaintiff after trial without a jury in an action to impose a constructive trust upon the proceeds of a National Service Life Insurance policy in the hands of the mother of decedent, defendants appeal.

Facts:

Sergeant Paul W. McPann and plaintiff were married October 15, 1942. On January 26, 1944, Sergeant McPann applied for and obtained a policy of National Service Life Insurance in the sum of $10,000 naming his mother, defendant Gertrude McPann, as beneficiary thereof.

About September 10, 1944, Sergeant McPann was reported missing in action, and was declared officially dead by the war department as of September 10, 1944, and the government as of this date commenced paying defendant Gertrude McPann under the terms of the policy the sum of $46.80 per month. The premiums on the policy of approximately $6.70 per month had been deducted from his monthly salary as a sergeant pursuant to his directions.

The trial court decreed that plaintiff was entitled to one-half of the proceeds of the policy on the theory that the premiums paid for the life insurance were community property, hence the proceeds were community property and plaintiff was entitled to one-half thereof.

Questions:

First:

Did Congress in enacting the National Service Life Insurance Act in 1940 intend the act to exclusively occupy the field, and therefore intend it to be supreme, state laws to the contrary notwithstanding?

This question must be answered in the affirmative. The National Service Life Insurance Act provides that the insured “shall have the right to designate the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the insurance [within a designated class], . . . and

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shall . . ., at all times have the right to change the beneficiary or beneficiaries. ...” (38 USCA § 802(g), FCA Title 38, § 802(g).)

The Supreme Court of the United States in

Wissner

v.