In re Soper’s Estate
Minnesota Supreme Court
196 Minn. 60 (1935)
Ira Soper secretly left his first wife, Adeline Westphal (plaintiff), staging an apparent suicide, then moved to Minnesota under the assumed name John W. Young and married Gertrude Whitby (defendant) without divorcing Adeline; as "Young," he purchased a life insurance policy naming "the surviving wife" as beneficiary, and after his death years later, the insurance proceeds went to Gertrude, whom everyone (friends, acquaintances, and public records) recognized as Young's wife. Adeline sued to recover the proceeds, arguing that since Ira could only have one legal wife (herself), Gertrude couldn't have been the intended beneficiary; the trial court ruled for Gertrude, and Adeline appealed.
Whether a life insurance policy naming "the surviving wife" as beneficiary is properly construed to designate the woman the insured and the public believed to be his wife at the time of the policy's execution, even though he was legally still married to someone else.