Aetna Life & Casualty Co. v. Mrs. Ruth Spain v. Mrs. Pauline Spain

GEE, Circuit Judge:

When he died in Texas on October 10, 1974, Barton Dean Spain owned a $50,000 insurance policy on his life issued by Aetna Life & Casualty Company. He had not designated a beneficiary for the proceeds of the policy. Before us today, each attempting to insert her name on the empty beneficiary designation line, are Pauline Spain, Barton Dean Spain’s first wife, and Ruth Spain, his second wife to whom he was married at the time of his death. Ruth Spain asserts a right to all of the proceeds based on the policy provision that if no beneficiary is designated at the time of the…