Kaminskas v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance

The plaintiff, the beneficiary named in certain policies of insurance upon the life of his brother, recovered judgment upon them against the defendant, which issued them. He relied upon the presumption of the death of his brother arising out of the latter’s unexplained absence for seven years and more. The sole issue is whether the plaintiff had offered proof sufficient to justify the decision of the trial court in his favor, under the rule in Potter v. Prudential Ins. Co., 108 Conn. 271, 276, 142 Atl. 891. In order to give rise to the presumption, the circumstances, including the fact that a…