New England Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Woodworth

New England Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Woodworth

Decided March 31, 1884
Full case name New England Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Woodworth, Adm'r etc.
Citations

111 U.S. 138 (more)

Holding
Reaffirmed the general rule that simple contract debts, such as a policy of insurance not under seal, are, for the purpose of founding administration, assets where the debtor resides, without regard to the place where the policy is found.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Morrison Waite
Case opinions
Majority Samuel Blatchford

New England Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Woodworth 111 U.S. 138 (1884) was a U.S. Supreme Court case.

The case

On September 21, 1869, Ann E. Woodworth took out a life insurance policy on herself with the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company in Michigan. Her husband Stephen E. Woodworth was the beneficiary. She then died in New York, and her husband moved to Illinois. The company did not pay the policy, and he sued in Illinois. The Illinois court passed judgment against the insurance company. The insurance company appealed saying that the suit should not have been filed in Illinois.

The Supreme Court reaffirmed the general rule that simple contract debts, such as a policy of insurance not under seal, are, for the purpose of founding administration, assets where the debtor resides, without regard to the place where the policy is found.

Side effect of the case

The plaintiff, Stephen E. Woodworth, was both the Step-Father and Uncle of noted entomologist Charles W. Woodworth. C.W. Woodworth's mother became a widow and married her late husband's brother who was a widower. The judgment arrived when C.W. Woodworth was 19 and likely helped pay for his education at the University of Illinois.

See also

External links

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