THEATCORNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
HonorableMcrtimsrBroun, opinion Isa.O-2048
Executive Secretary Re: fffect of .a villwhich devises
Teacher Retirement System all of deceased's property of
Austin, Texas all kinds to a third party up-
on the payment of the nCCulml-
lnted contributions under the
Tescher Retiremnt SJrstemto
the person nsnmxlIn the System
Dear Sir: by the deceased to collect
such ccmtrlbutione.
Uetne.inrecelpt of you~letter ofMarch 5,19@, invhichyou
r~uastanoplnicnofthis departmantes tothwmmer of paymantofthe
scclllailst~ccmtrlbutiw8 fnthe umepresentedinyonr latteras follow:
Yh JEUUR~ 26, ig40, M~S. zylpae K%O~~MJSO ma,
s.mnhr of theTeacherRetiremnt6y8tem~died. Ona
form held in this office end deted April 19, 1938, she
had dtalgrafdl her dnapfikr, Virginia Meney Kiolbesao,
a mlnc~, to receive the return of her ficwmnlatea con-
tributions in case of her death befcre retlrenmt. At-
tached hereto ~ouwill find an exact copy of this deslg-
natlm of beneficiary form.
71e are also enclosing a corn of a certified copy
of~e vill thet was executed by Nrs. Zylpba Kiolbaoso
Heale lnJammryoflg40. Pouwillnotein tblsrill
she stetes that *all~propzrty of rhats~ Wad, reel,
per~o~8lorniedof~wbl~b I smy dle~~ssesaed' i8 be-
~thedtOberf&hertmdlUOther,~dhe~~i8
appobrbdesee~t0r oftbeestatevitheut ha. We have
in this office letters testamentary of his appointment
as executor.
"Inviewqf the feCt8 in this ~pertlculm ease, what
steps shoulabe takenbyt&eTeacherRetiremwtSystem
tc settle this case?
"1. Should themmeybe paid to the executor for
themtherandfatherZ
- .
&xmreb~&wtimer &own, page2 (o-2048)
9. Should the aoaey b8 paid to the executor for
the &nor dau@itert
“3.sblld thu w4luy b8 pill lllreo%4 totlm fethur
and iwther bemuse of the faut thet the *rimmSuted cmtribu-
ticas of a deceased msmbsr aennot ba oodddmed liabb for the
debts of the estate (if uu interpret the law .wrreotly)?
“4. Should thmncney be .psid directly to thu dau@er
ii her disabilltiea -fnmrbeea z-amved or to the CouatyClerk
if there is no lsgbl ~gmmdian appuiuted~~andif her disabllitles
hsvenotbeenrenlbmdl (The amunttoba refunded is less than
$25lLeo).
“5.Should the Tmeher BetQyswnt System py ths
money to
the executor and leavethemtter antirely inhis
hSll&!S?"
% 8in8werto this qwStim, ii the dste of the
viUi8 subsaquenttotha &k &~thadeaig&&I3 of
thewmb8r18 bsneffciary, I thlnkycm sbouldrCaulre
anadJudioation of the rlghts d the &mie~eeIn the
will end the beneficiery aaaad-‘bgthe .mYmberwcr8
psylng the eccumclaW ccatributi8 ix any perscm.”
This depwtmantdoesnotagreewithtbe conclusionreaohedby
Hr.Willf.ford inanswer to this questiun,anbto this extent his opinion
is hereby expressly cverrnld.
Ii~~Sbk?Mort%IBsr Browqpege 3 (O-348)
Our opti* Eo. O-129 contained the~folloving statement:
"As to such appointee the title to such residue
doesnotve8tsbaolutelymrtiltha deathofthemern-
bsr. If such en eppointnunt la ,wde, hcntever,an6 it
3.8,not 8ubsepruentlyrevoked by the membur, it uoula
entit%~th uppointee to receive such re85due of the
~~'S-b~~fit~ for the reasmthat thi~Act8p@~if-
ical3.y'a0 prwi&s. In ~this respact the stbrte~ is
similar to the provisions uswlly contained in ordhary
life imnuamce policies, vhich authorize the insured to
appoint, in uriting, e substitute beneficiary. Such an
appointment, 8s provided for in this Act, it is believed,
wy be recalLed or revoked by the member .”
Inlineaith the abovequoted opinionwe feelthatthe aame
ruleof &wwonlaepplyhere asvouldepp~toan insurancepolicywhich
named e third ~prty 88 beneficiary thereunder, and in which case t&me
~813a will contqin*g the 88ms prwi8ionas~q+3.nedherein subsew3ntly
executed. ,,.~:;_ ~, ,.,. -'~';
S.F
It itt'~k
%ull est8bliehed &.lerof'i& in this Ststu t&t the
proceeds of an insurance policywhi~namme-thir&gaty,ao beneflclary
is nut b prt of the estste uP which a perem. dies possessed of. ,The
Court of Civil Appeals of Texas, in the case of White, et al. v. White,
32 8.w. 48, St&& US fOti:
"A8i&~fYom thi6, it is vail 8ettled4amtaldfel%~~en
insurence policynews e benefbiury, whc survfvus the in-
sured,andubohus an insurable~interest,the proceeds of
the policy form no psrt of his estate, end neither his
executor nor &Is cruditor"h?lve any 'clJ!lt78qon such pro-
O%St¶S. l3 Am. & m. Eao. Iar, p.,@2;,B'hLl%ins V. Thoap-
son~51Tex. 7. Asthewaeycollecte~byvbtueofthe
certKb&e const%tuted no -pwt of the cr-kateof S. J.
whfta, sr., it,WW not SUb$eCt t0 wdminf8fra~tiw~~ Snd it
'me ~parfortheprol&e courttoordersnadditimal
inventory to bs mrde byMrs.White, and require bar to..give
btma."
Th8 semarule of lmrwas recognisedby tbcSuprew CourtofTaxm3
in the case of InternationalTrevelers* Ass%. v. Battis, 35 6X. (24
1040. %ieccurtatstedesfollwRs:
"In our opinicsi,thure Is e) cleur ~di8ttnct+m In
thwarthaylfies k&uean~policies of ~iasurame~ble
toe de8ignakdbeneficiary8ndtho8erm~ payable to
the 'a8ministratcr or executor' of the insured as yB8
Honorebl8krtimer &wwn, page $(0-2&8)
dQm inthh.hstmlciE. 'Iha~prweedf~obthspoli01es
cfth8l&terolssrbscc4~~aafoftheestateofths
tameed .8this damth. nutaur v. uillm (Tux. civ.
App.) 66 S.W. 860 (writ refused); rolumm 4, Coolaj'r
Briefs csltlwsawcf Insw8nee ; p. 3743.”
In ltnu v-itlrat w .%eeu mous4 ,uwmd, it is the opiaicm
of tM.s~~~thut .ln ale msswhere the uw5eluted lx&ribut~
sre desi~td in.the !PeRChM RctlrepaptSystemtokpeidtcatM.rd
~parto t&2 88~8honldba 8opufdregndless of the fact t&at in a subse-
q~twilltb deceesed ldtsll ofkerprcperty; bctkresland persmsl,
to sm else. ?5eqtxst*~hereWoUlCbemeh~mcre difficult if the Will
,whteh bed be&n epcFlted’8ubs8!qwnt’to ee OrQiwl desiga8ticn la the
T~chcrBctircPnt~~~~hrrd,provfded.s~K~oally~~~~;:a~~
cc8ltr~butiw8 sholiwkppeidto sm other than the~psrson desisted
in thc'form ril&vlth ~an?~Te8ckr Rettreamtsystum. ~xwever, this 18 not
the CUM. l5u~devhn~hsrc~ws of~the prcperty~belcingingtethe
only of .e~l!l.
&cmsed. T%erefcre In this sese~we feel~that~the~ccrrect~pmcedure is to
*y~tiwmopey~to thcperscm desiepated io~the Teacher Retircmmt SyeW and
not to thendevisee-In the will.
In ytmr lettur~oa wre also ccnetith tbmethod~cf pay-
-t. of the sccwulated wntrtbutbm8 tothe purseaxtwshos~the~mw~ I8
entitled. In om~ oplnicn no. o-2009-w maud t&t thesQeuwAutud ccQ+xi-
b&l- w-not mlb$wt tm-ticn. In opblicn Bo. o-1439 this de-
partmentEaPYliderd~qacsticP.rbBayarnfoi~toa &or under the
!kacher Retfxement System~umd statud 8s folloU8:
HcuorablcMortiPrerBrown,page5(0-2048)
Pomare~tkeref~e~~~dvised t%t In this uese the mc%ey should
ba~dtotAwdmw@ter KherdisaMlities~vebaanremved, or to the
Comfy Clark if her disabilities have not been removed, and K there lx48
baenno legalgmrdisnappointed for her.
Yonre very-truly
8s /s/ Blur Qoldkrg
Silly Qoldberg
Assi6tant
BG:JkpC
/El/Qerclld'c.mm
AllDRiIXOLAEIULLOFTES6