Witness my hand this (Witness.) day of in the year (Signature.) It is always best to write this assignment on the policy itself, but it may sometimes happen that this is not convenient or pos sible; the insured who wishes to make the assignment not hav ing the policy within his possession or easy reach. Then the assured may use the following Form: Whereas, the and dated on (105.) day of Insurance Company, by the policy, numbered in the year taused me to be insured against loss or damage by fire on a certain building, being (designate the building by location or otherwise) in the sum of dollars; now, I the said (name of the insured), in consideration of one dollar paid to me by (name of the assignee) and for other good consid erations, have transferred and assigned, and do by these presents transfer and assign unto the said (name of the assignee) the said policy of insurance, and all the right, title, interest, or claim, which I now have or ever may have in, to, or under the same, and in and to any sum of money which now is o shall ever be payable thereon. Witness my hand this day of in the year (Signature.) (Witness.) If the policy be on goods, or if it be not a fire-policy, but a marine-policy, or a life-policy, then the assignment must be made to conform to the facts. It is always best to get the assent of the insurance company to the transfer before it is made. And always the assignment, when made, should be exhibited without loss of time, to them or to their agent authorized to give their assent, and this assent to the assignment be obtained and written upon the policy, or, if that cannot conveniently be, on the assignment, and in the books of the insurance company. CHAPTER XXVIII. LIFE-INSURANCE. SECTION I. THE PURPOSE AND METHOD OF LIFE-INSURANCE. IF A insures B a certain sum payable at B's death to B's representatives, we have only the insurer and insured, as in other cases of insurance. But if A insures B a sum payable to B or his representatives on the death of C, although C is often said to be insured, this is not quite accurate; more properly, B is the insured party and C is the life-insured. Life-insurance is usually effected in this country in a way quite similar to that of fire-insurance by our mutual companies. That is, an application must be first made by the insured; and to this application queries are annexed by the insurers, which inquire, with great minuteness and detail, into everything which can affect the probability of life. These must be answered fully; and if the insurer be other than the life-insured, there are usually questions for each of them There are also, in some cases, questions which should be answered by the physician of the life-insured, and others by his friends or relatives; or other means are provided to have the evidence of the physician and friends. These questions are not precisely the same in the forms given out by any two companies; and we do not speak of them in detail here. The rules as to the obligation of answering them, and as to the sufficiency of the answers, must be the same in life-insurance that we have already stated in the chapters on Fire and Marine Insurance; or rather must rest upon the same principles. And the same rules and principles of construction therein set forth would doubtless be applied to the question whether a contract had been made, or at what time it went into effect. SECTION LI. THE PREMIUM. If the insurance be for one year only, or less, the premium is usually paid in money, or by a note, at once. If for more than a year, it is usually payable annually. But it is common to provide or agree that the annual payment may be made quarterly, with interest from the day when the whole is due. Notes are usually given; but if not, the whole amount would be considered due. If A, whose premium of $100 is payable for 1878 on the 1st day of January, then pays $25, and is to pay the rest quarterly, but dies on the 1st of February, the $75 due, with interest from the 1st of January, would be deducted from the sum insured. If the policy provides that the risk shall "terminate in case the premium charged shall not be paid in advance on or before the day at noon on which the same shall become due and payable," and the day of payment falls on Sunday, the premium is not payable until Monday, although the assured dies on Sunday afternoon. Provision is sometimes made that a part of the premium shall be paid in money, and a part in notes, which are not called in unless needed to pay losses. The greater the accommoda tion thus allowed, the more convenient it is, obviously to the insured, but the less certain will he be of the ultimate payment of the policy, because, in the same degree, the fund for the payment consists only of such notes, and not of payments actually made and invested. There is a great diversity among the lifeinsurance companies in this respect. But even the strictest, or those which require that all the premiums shall be paid in money, usually provide also that an amount may remain overdue, without prejudice, which does not exceed a certain proportion-say one-half or one-third of the money actually paid in on the policy. This is considered, under all ordinary circumstances, safe for the company, because every policy is worth as much as this to the company. Or, in other words, it would always be profitable for the company to obtain a discharge of its obligation on a policy, by repaying the insured so small a proportion of wnat has been received from him. Taking a note would certainly be a waiver of immediate pay ment, if not itself a payment. The premiums, after the first, must be paid on the days on which they fall due. If no hour be mentioned, then it is believed that the insured would have the whole day, even to midnight. It is possible, however, that he might be restricted to the usual hours of business, and perhaps even to those in which the office of the insurers is open for business. Practically, the utmost care is requisite on the part of the assured, to pay his premium as soon as it is due; and it is a wise precaution to pay it a little before. This is the only proper and safe course. But we believe it to be not unusual for the insurers to accept the premium if offered them a few days after, and continue the policy as if it were paid in season, provided no change in the risk has occurred in the mean time. And sometimes the rules of the company, and in some States the statutes, provide, that, if a policy be defeated by a non-pay. ment of the premium, the insured does not lose all that he has paid; but a certain proportion of the value which the policy then had shall be paid to him. The time of the death is sometimes very important. If the policy be for a definite period, it must be shown that the death occurs within it. If there were an insurance on a man's life for a year, and some short time before the expiration of the term he received a mortal wound, of which he died one day after the year, the insurer would not be liable. And the terms of the policy may possibly make it necessary to determine which of two persons lived longest; as if a sum were insured on the joint lives of two persons, to be paid to the representatives of the survivor. SECTION III. THE RESTRICTIONS AND EXCEPTIONS IN LIFE-POLICIES. OUR policies usually contain certain restrictions or limita tions as to place; the life-insured (he whose life is insured for his own or another's benefit) not being permitted to go beyond cer tain limits, or to certain places. But there is nothing to prevent a bargain permitting the life-insured to pass beyond these bounds, either in consideration of new and further payments, or of the common premium. So certain trades or occupations, as of persons engaged in making gunpowder, or of engineers or firemen about steamengines, are considered extra-hazardous, and as therefore prohibited, or requiring an extra premium. The exception, however, which has created most discussion, is that which makes death by suicide an avoidance of the policy. The clause respecting duelling is plain enough; and no one can die in a duel without his own fault. But it is otherwise with regard to self-inflicted death. This may be voluntary and wrong. ful, or the result of insanity and disease, for which the suffering party should not be held responsible. The general principles of the law of contracts, and of the law of insurance particularly, would lead to the conclusion that "death by his own hands," but without the concurrence of a responsible will or mind, would not discharge the insurers, without a positive provision to that effect. We should put such a death on the same footing with one resulting from a mere accident, brought about by the agency, but without the intent, of the life-insured. As if poison were sent to him by mistake for medicine, and he swallowed it under the same mis take. Much question has been made, when a man may be believed to be dead, simply because nothing is known about him, or has been known for a long period. But there is not and cannct be any other presumption of law on the subject than that, after a certain period of absence and silence, there is a presumption of death; and seven years has been mentioned in England and in this country as this period, and even sanctioned by legislation in New York. But all questions of this kind we regard as pure questions of fact. Whichever party rests his case upon the death or the life of a certain person, at a certain time, must satisfy the jury upon this point by such evidence as may be admissible and sufficient. |