Respondent, as widow of a deceased, claimed to recover from the Crown under a policy of insurance taken out by deceased under The Returned Soldiers' Insurance Act, D. 1920, 10-11 Geo. V, c. 54. Against her claim it was urged that satisfactory evidence of marriage had not been produced.
Held, that as she had lived with deceased openly as his wife, was evidently regarded by deceased as his wife, had children by him acknowledged by him to be legitimate, and was accepted by people of repute as his wife, a prima facie case arose in her flavour; and the findings of the trial judge, who had accepted her statement of the fact of a marriage ceremony, should be affirmed, under all the circumstances, notwithstanding her failure to recollect details of such ceremony.
Judgment of the Exchequer Court ([1926] Ex. C.R. 1) aff.
APPEAL from the judgment of Maclean J., President of the Exchequer Court of Canada (1).
The suppliant (now respondent) in her petition of right claimed to recover from the Crown under a policy of insurance issued upon the life of P.
The insured died in Edmonton, Alberta, in February, 1924. The respondent applied to the department of Government administering the Act, for payment of the amount payasble under the policy, but this apparently was refused upon the ground that no certificate of marriage, or satisfactory evidence of marriage, had been produced.
0. M. Biggar K.C. for the appellant.
0. F. Howe for the respondent.
*PRESENT:-Anglin C.J.C. and Idington, Duff, Mignault and Newcombe JJ.
(1) [19261 Ex. C.R. 1.