Houston v. Canada Life Assurance Co.

The plaintiff seeks to recover on a life insurance policy which is dated November 3, 1953, and the defendant defends on two grounds: 1. The policy is voidable because of misrepresentation of material facts in the application; and 2. because the insured died from a wound which was intentionally self-inflicted with a rifle. 1

The application dated September 24, 1953 contains the following statements:

At the end of the policy is ths statement :

In the body of the application the following question and answer appears:

It is defendant’s contention that Mr. Houston, the deceased, habitually used alcoholic stimulants, and at times used them to excess. The defendant bears the burden of proving that Mr. Houston made a material misrepresentation in the application for insurance. Everett v. Standard Acc. Ins. Co., 45 Cal.App. 332 , 187 P. 996 ; Scoles v. Universal Life Ins. Co., 42 Cal. 523 ; Mickschl v. National Council of Knights & Ladies of Security, 40 Cal.App. 100 , 180 P. 27 .

It is the Court’s view that Mr. Houston’s answers to the general questions regarding his consumption of alcohol are to be regarded as expressions of insured’s opinion and that the questions having been…