Thelen v. Mutual Life Ins. Co‪.‬

CULLEN, Commissioner. The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York issued a policy on the life of Louise Thelen in the amount of $2,500, with a double indemnity clause providing for payment of an additional $2,500 in case of accidental death. Following Miss Thelen's death the company paid the face amount of the policy to the beneficiary, Mrs. Adelaide Thelen, but refused payment of the double indemnity. The beneficiary sued for the amount of the double indemnity and the company defended on the grounds that Miss Thelen's death resulted from 'mental infirmity' or from 'self-destruction', which were specified in the double indemnity clause as grounds for nonliability. Upon the trial, a directed verdict was given for the company, and Mrs. Thelen appeals from the judgment dismissing her action. The contention of the appellant is that under the circumstances surrounding the death of Miss Thelen, it appears that she came to her death either by accident or by suicide; that there is a legal presumption against suicide; and the defendant did not sustain the burden of proving suicide so completely as to justify taking the case from the jury.