Hamilton v. Standard Insurance Company

BYE, Circuit Judge.

Based upon and relying on a suicide exclusion clause, Standard Insurance Company reduced the amount of death benefits paid to Sheila Hamilton under a group insurance policy providing coverage for her deceased husband. Hamilton sued Standard in federal district court contending a Missouri statute barring suicide defenses for insurance policies issued to citizens of the state of Missouri should apply. The district court 1 concluded the Missouri statute did not apply because the policy was issued to a non-Missouri citizen in Idaho, and granted summary judgment in favor of…