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O.C.G.A. § 33-24-42 — Payment of claims under policies - Payment of claims in event of simultaneous deaths | Georgia Code

O.C.G.A. § 33-24-42 (2018) Copy Cite Official Site Syfertize CourtListener Scholar Amendments

TITLE 33 INSURANCE

Section 24. Insurance Generally, 33-24-1 through 33-24-98.

ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS

33-24-42. Payment of claims under policies - Payment of claims in event of simultaneous deaths.

Where the individual insured or the annuitant and the beneficiary designated in a life insurance policy or policy insuring against accidental death or in an annuity contract have died and there is not sufficient evidence that they have died otherwise than simultaneously, the proceeds of the policy or contract shall be distributed as if the insured or annuitant had survived the beneficiary unless otherwise specifically provided in the policy or contract. Payment made in accordance with this Code section shall fully discharge the insurer from all claims under the policy or contract unless, before payment is made, the insurer has received at its home office written notice by or on behalf of some other person that the person claims to be entitled to the payment or some interest in the policy or contract.

(Code 1933, § 56-2426, enacted by Ga. L. 1960, p. 289, § 1.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

This section makes the actual circumstances of the parties' deaths irrelevant and provides that for purposes of distribution the property will be disposed of as if the insured survived the beneficiary. Estate of Wien v. Commissioner, 441 F.2d 32 (5th Cir. 1971).

Once it is found that the actual order of the parties' respective deaths is not ascertainable, this section applies so as to make the prescribed property disposition mandatory regardless of the factual circumstances which might have existed at the time of the parties' demise. Estate of Wien v. Commissioner, 441 F.2d 32 (5th Cir. 1971).

Sufficient evidence standard.

- Use of phrase "sufficient evidence" in O.C.G.A. § 33-24-42 does not require higher standard of appellate review than the normal "any evidence" rule. Hitchcock v. Key, 163 Ga. App. 901, 296 S.E.2d 625 (1982).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Insurance: presumption and burden of proof as to accident in case of death from poison, 7 A.L.R. 1226.

Construction and application of statute respecting proceeds of life insurance in event of death of named beneficiary before insured, 167 A.L.R. 1021.

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This Georgia Code resource is curated by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., a personal injury and workers' compensation attorney admitted in Georgia (State Bar of Georgia No. 881027, since 2006) and Florida. Attorney Syfert regularly works with Title 33 in the context of Georgia insurance coverage law and represents clients throughout Northeast Florida and South Georgia. For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.