Melissa Kay Renfandt, Plaintiff v. New York Life Insurance Company, Defendant.

Summary

The court held that a life-insurance exclusion for "suicide, sane or insane" applies only when the insured intentionally committed an act of self-destruction with the intent to cause his own death. The words "sane or insane" eliminate inquiry into the insured's sanity or moral understanding, but they do not eliminate the requirement of suicidal intent. The court answered the certified question accordingly, leaving whether the insured in fact had suicidal intent for further proceedings.