Pope Photo Records, Inc. v. Malone

REYNOLDS, Justice.

A creditor sought to recover the balance of a debt incurred by a deceased husband from the lump sum proceeds of his life insurance received by his surviving widow. The trial court denied recovery. The insurance proceeds became the widow’s separate property not shown to be subject to the debt. Affirmed.

When James Pat Malone died on 20 November 1973, eight insurance policies, the beneficiaries of which he had the contractual right to change, were in force on his life. He had gratuitously named his wife, Roberta E. Malone, as the beneficiary of each policy. One of them was…