Reminder: Moral Obligations Do Not Equal Legal Obligations

A recent case out of Arkansas, Baxter v. Wing, No. CV-16-21 (behind paywall), has a nice discussion of the difference between moral obligation and legal obligation. In the case, a man named one of his four stepchildren, Susannah, as the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy and asked her to share it with her three siblings.

Nobody disputed that it was the deceased man’s wish that Susannah share the money with her siblings. The problem, though, was that her obligation to comply with his wishes was merely moral, not legal, and the court could do nothing to force her to comply with it. The deceased man gave Susannah instructions, but he did not make her any promise, nor did Susannah make any promise in exchange. There was no deal along the lines of, “I promise to make you the sole beneficiary if you promise in exchange to share the proceeds with your siblings.” The deceased man gave Susannah instructions, which did not rise to the level of an enforceable contract. 

Cases like this are valuable when you’re teaching consideration but they always make me sad, because consideration cases so frequently seem to be about families feuding on a level so rancorous that they turn to the court system. Tough cases to get through.