Gardner v. Nationwide Life Insurance Company

HEDRICK, Judge.

This appeal presents but one question for our consideration: Who is entitled to the proceeds of a life insurance policy when the insured feloniously kills the named beneficiary, then commits suicide, and the insurance policy contains a section designating classes of alternative beneficiaries who are to receive the proceeds when the named beneficiary (ies) does not survive the insured? Determination of this issue is governed by G.S. 31A-ll(b) which reads as follows: “If the decedent is beneficiary or assignee of any policy or certificate of insurance on the life of the slayer,…