Baumet v. United States

Based on conflicting claims to the proceeds of a National Service Life Insurance policy, this is a companion case to United States v. Henning, ante, p. 66, decided today.

The controversy is bottomed on the following facts: At the time of the insured serviceman’s death in 1942, his policy designated John J. Peters, his uncle, as sole beneficiary. Challenging the uncle’s standing as a permissible beneficiary under the statute, William Baumet, the insured’s natural father, instituted an action to claim the proceeds.1 Before that action came to trial, John J. Peters died.2 After a subsequent trial…