Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
J

Johnson v. North American Life and Casualty Co.

241 N.E.2d 332, 100 Ill. App. 2d 212 (1968)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Johnson v. North American Life and Casualty Co.

Illinois Appellate Court
241 N.E.2d 332, 100 Ill. App. 2d 212 (1968)

Facts

Virginia Johnson (plaintiff) was married to Richard Johnson, who died of cancer. Richard had two children from a previous marriage. While Richard was suffering from cancer before his death, he asked Virginia to agree to allow their joint property to be encumbered to secure loans to treat Richard’s illness. In exchange, Richard agreed to designate Virginia as the beneficiary of his life-insurance policy with North American Life and Casualty Co. (North American Life) (defendant). Virginia agreed to the arrangement, which was an enforceable contract under state law. The couple’s joint property was encumbered in exchange for loans spent to treat Richard’s illness, and Richard designated Virginia as his beneficiary. However, Richard then secretly changed his beneficiary from Virginia to his two children from his prior marriage. Richard died insolvent. Virginia filed a complaint seeking the proceeds of Richard’s life-insurance policy. North American Life moved to dismiss Virginia’s complaint, arguing that Virginia was seeking equitable relief, which was inappropriate because Virginia could sue Richard’s estate, a remedy at law. The lower court granted North American Life’s motion, and Virginia appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Moran, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Remedies

Key Terms