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Compliance, Or Not, With Religious Customs Relevant To Suicide Finding

By Howard M. Friedman

In Green v. William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York, (NY Ct. App., May 5, 2009), New York's high court upheld a trial court's conclusion that Alan Green had committed suicide and his widow was not entitled to receive the proceeds of a half-million life insurance policy. The policy provided that if the insured died by suicide within 2 years of issuance of the policy, the only death benefit would be the premiums paid. The high court said that the presumption against suicide requires the fact finder to conclude that suicide was highly probable. It does not preclude such a finding merely because there is also evidence that would support a contrary finding. Among the evidence cited by the court was the fact that Green's widow "refused to permit an autopsy or a toxicological examination of his body, saying that such intrusions were forbidden by Jewish religious law, but she ordered the body cremated in violation of that religious prohibition." [Thanks to Y.Y. Landa for the lead.]

Full post as published by Religion Clause on May 06, 2009 (boomark / email).