Remainderman was not entitled to proceeds of insurance policy paid for by life tenant

In Opha L. Keith Estate ex rel. Buckland v. Keith, 647 S.E.2d 731 (W. Va. 2007), the court held as a matter of first impression that the life tenant is entitled to all of the proceeds of an insurance policy insuring the property against loss where the life tenant obtains the policy in the life tenant’s name for the life tenant’s benefit and pays for the policy, absent a requirement in the instrument creating the life estate that the life tenant insure for the benefit of the remainder beneficiary, an agreement to that effect between the life tenant and the remainder beneficiary, or the existence of a fiduciary relationship between the two.