813.30.Insurance policies.

Section 813.30 handles life insurance proceeds tied to the distribution described in section 813.29. At the time of that distribution, the court may direct payment to the beneficiaries of any sums due and unpaid under policies on the absentee’s life, so long as the insurer does not contest the claim.

If the claim is contested instead, the court takes jurisdiction of the action and submits the issue of the insured’s death, along with any other issues arising under the policy, to a jury if one is called for. Where the survival of a named beneficiary cannot be established, sections 813.22 through 813.34 apply as though the insurance proceeds were part of the absentee’s estate.

If the absentee is not found to be dead in a proceeding under this section and the policy has a surrender value, the beneficiary may ask the receiver, acting for the insured, to demand payment of that surrender value; the receiver’s receipt releases the insurer from all claims under the policy. The receiver then pays the sum received to the beneficiary, if the beneficiary survives the insured, or otherwise to the absentee’s estate, holding back only the amount the court allows as costs of the proceeding. Payment by an insurer under this section fully discharges its contractual liability, and no action may be brought by an absentee to recover any part of the proceeds or other policy benefits after a distribution under this section.