Evans v. National Life & Accident Insurance

The crux of this appeal concerns two related issues of Ohio law. First, the effect of the legal presumption against suicide. Second, upon which party is the burden of persuasion cast relative to a suicide exception contained in a life insurance policy.

The widely recognized presumption against suicide is stated in Shepherd v. Midland Mut. Life Ins. Co. (1949), 152 Ohio St. 6, 15 [39 O.O. 352], as follows: “* * * [W]here it is shown that death resulted from bodily • injury caused by violent and external means without a showing as to how the injury was in fact sustained, there is a presumption…