## Facts

- American Home Assurance Company issued two accidental-death policies insuring Coulter Houchens, naming his wife, Alice Faye Houchens, as beneficiary.
- Coulter Houchens worked abroad and, during a vacation in August 1980, traveled to Bangkok, Thailand.
- Immigration records showed he arrived in Bangkok on August 15, 1980, and his entry permit was valid through August 29, 1980.
- After arriving, he was never heard from again; extensive searches by multiple entities failed to locate him.
- A Virginia state court later entered an order declaring him presumed dead and presuming death occurred sometime between August 15 and August 29, 1980.
- No evidence established the circumstances of disappearance or any facts indicating whether death (if any) resulted from accident, suicide, homicide, natural causes, or other means.
- Both policies required death by accidental means for coverage (with separate occupational/non-occupational terms not material absent proof of accidental death).

## Issues

1. Whether a beneficiary may recover accidental-death benefits when the insured is presumed dead but there is no evidence that death occurred by accidental means.
2. Whether a presumption of death implies any presumption regarding the manner or cause of death for purposes of accidental-death coverage.
3. Whether summary judgment is proper when the record supports equally plausible inferences of accidental and non-accidental death on an element the plaintiff must prove.

## Decision

- The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the insurer.
- The court held that the beneficiary failed to produce evidence from which a reasonable jury could find, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the insured died by accidental means.
- The state-court presumption established only death within a time frame, not the manner of death.
- Because the evidence permitted equally reasonable inferences of accidental and non-accidental death, the plaintiff’s theory of accidental death was speculative and insufficient to reach a jury.

## Legal Principles

- A claimant under an accidental-death policy bears the burden to prove death resulted from violent, external, and accidental means.
- A legal presumption of death arising from prolonged absence is a presumption of death only and does not create a presumption about cause or manner of death.
- Summary judgment is required when the nonmovant fails to make a sufficient showing on an essential element on which she bears the burden at trial.
- If the evidence supports opposing inferences with equal weight, the plaintiff has not satisfied the preponderance standard and cannot avoid summary judgment.

## Conclusion

The court denied recovery because the beneficiary proved only that the insured was presumed dead, not that death was more likely than not accidental, and the absence of evidence on accidental causation entitled the insurer to summary judgment.


Houchens v. Am. Home Assur. Co., 927 F.2d 163 (4th Cir. 1991)