Strait v. McPhail

BARNES, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. This appeal concerns a lawsuit where Michael and Betty Strait sued insurance agent Jackie McPhail and American Heritage Life Insurance Company (American Heritage). The Straits alleged that McPhail negligently failed to effectuate the instructions of the insured, Joseph Bagley, to change the beneficiary of a cancer/dread-disease insurance policy from Bagley’s estate to the Straits.

¶ 2. The Straits, a married couple, were close friends of Bagley and cared for him during his final illness. Bagley died of cancer in Jackson, Mississippi, on August 22, 2008. Days…