Hatfield v. Empire General Life Insurance

Plaintiff seeks to recover $250,000 plus interest under the terms of a life insurance policy for the death of her husband. Defendant maintains that it is not obligated to pay under an exclusion in the policy, because plaintiffs husband committed suicide. The trial court granted a summary judgment in favor of defendant. We reverse.

Plaintiffs husband was found dead in the front seat of his car. He had died from two bullet wounds. The first was to the right temple but did not penetrate the brain. The second was near the middle of the forehead and was almost certainly fatal. When discovered, he…