From N. Am. Co. for Life & Health Ins. v. Caldwell, decided Thursday by the Eleventh Circuit, in an opinion by Chief Judge William Pryor, joined by Judges Robin Rosenbaum and Stanley Marcus:
This appeal requires us to decide whether a life-insurance policy excludes from coverage a death resulting from suicide-by-cop. North American Company for Life and Health Insurance issued two policies for the life of Justin Caldwell that excluded "suicide" from coverage. According to the insurance company's complaint, Justin successfully carried out a plan to provoke police officers to shoot and kill him. North American sought a declaratory judgment that it did not owe the policies' beneficiaries. But the district court ruled that Justin died "as a result of being shot by another person," not "suicide," and granted a judgment on the pleadings in favor of the beneficiaries. Because the ordinary meaning of "suicide" includes suicide-by-cop, we vacate and remand….
North American issued two insurance policies for the life of Justin Caldwell. On November 9, 2018, it issued a policy that named an irrevocable trust managed by trustee Michael Harner as beneficiary. On July 9, 2020, it issued a policy that named Michelle Caldwell, Justin's wife, as beneficiary. Each policy provided a $1 million death benefit. Each also contained an essentially identical clause that excluded suicide from coverage under the policy. That clause read, "SUICIDE—If the Insured commits suicide, while sane or insane, within two years from the Policy Date, Our liability is limited to an amount equal to the total premiums paid."
On October 8, 2020, Justin began showing signs of suicidal intent after learning that Michelle wanted a divorce. According to his mother, Justin called his parents to say goodbye at 3:00 a.m. Later that morning, he told Michelle that he was "waiting for the police to come and kill [him]." And around 7:00 a.m, Michelle called 911 to report "that Justin was 'suicidal,' that he was in the family garage in possession of a rifle, a shotgun, and another firearm, that he was 'in the process of loading the weapons,' that he 'wanted to die by law enforcement,' and that he 'wanted to commit suicide by cop.'"
