In a case where Party A entered in a separate family relations register but formed blood relationship relationship with Party A, which entered into an automobile insurance contract with Party A, sought insurance payment, etc. from Party B, the case holding that Party B, regardless of whether or not entered in the family relations register, is a sibling of Party A, who is the deceased, and thus Party A’s legal heir.

In a case where Party A entered in a separate family register but formed blood relationship relationship with Party A, an insurance company which entered into an automobile insurance contract with Party A, sought insurance payment, etc. from Party A, the case holding that Party B, regardless of whether the family relation register is entered, constitutes a legal heir under Article 1000 (1) 3 of the Civil Act, as Party A’s sibling A, who is the deceased, regardless of whether the family relation register is entered, is the legal heir under Article 100(1)3 of the Civil Act.

Article 100(1)3 of the Civil Act

Plaintiff

Mez Fire Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. (Law Firm Jeong-in, Attorney Park Jong-young, Counsel for the plaintiff-appellant)

April 3, 2014

1. Of the instant lawsuit, the part concerning the claim for confirmation of the status of the claim for insurance money shall be dismissed.

2. The defendant shall pay to the plaintiff 32,327,304 won with 20% interest per annum from January 7, 2014 to the day of complete payment.

3. The costs of lawsuit shall be borne by the defendant.

4. Paragraph 2 can be provisionally executed.

It is confirmed that the claim for insurance payment under the insurance contract entered in the attached Form between the defendant and the deceased and the non-party is the plaintiff.

1. Basic facts

(a) Family relationship;

1) The Plaintiff and the deceased Nonparty (hereinafter “the deceased”) are those who have a blood relationship by the same parent system as the result of genetic testing.

2) On February 19, 1976, the Plaintiff and the Deceased lost their paths and their parents gather who are their parents, and they were registered in a separate family register by establishing a new family register with the permission of the establishment of a new surname from the Busan District Court on February 19, 1982.

3) The Deceased was unmarried at the time of his death.

(b) Conclusion of insurance contracts;

On October 8, 2012, the Deceased concluded an automobile insurance contract in the attached Form (hereinafter “instant insurance contract”) with the Defendant, the insurer, as the insurer.

(c) Occurrence of insurance accidents;

On December 19, 2012, around 09:48, the Deceased died on January 21, 2013 while driving an insurable vehicle in the insurance contract of this case at a point 148 km from the 1,000 km away from the Jeju metropolitan highway in the Jeju metropolitan city (hereinafter “the instant insurance accident”).

D. Plaintiff’s claim for payment of insurance money

As a beneficiary of the instant insurance contract, the Plaintiff claimed the Defendant for the payment of the death insurance money and the injury insurance money. The amount of the death insurance money and the injury insurance money reflecting the percentage of 20% of the deceased’s fault on the part of the Plaintiff, which the Plaintiff is the beneficiary of the instant insurance contract, is KRW 32,327,304 [* (Death Insurance 30,000,000 + Medical expenses spent by the Plaintiff within the limit of the injury insurance + KRW 10,409,130) x 0.8

[Ground for Recognition: Facts without dispute, Gap evidence 1 through 8, each entry in Eul evidence 1 through 4 (including branch numbers), the purport of whole pleadings]

2. Whether a claim for confirmation of the status of the claimant for insurance proceeds is legitimate.

We examine the legitimacy of the ex officio claim to confirm the status of the claimant for insurance proceeds.

The Plaintiff sought reimbursement of insurance money under the instant insurance contract against the Defendant and sought confirmation that the claim for payment of insurance money under the said insurance contract is the Plaintiff.

However, as long as the benefit of confirmation in a lawsuit for confirmation exists in the legal status of the plaintiff, and the seeking confirmation of the legal relation in question is recognized as the most effective and appropriate means to eliminate such apprehension and danger, filing a lawsuit for confirmation, despite the fact that it is possible to bring a lawsuit for performance, is not a final solution of dispute, and there is no benefit of confirmation (see Supreme Court Decision 2005Da60239, Mar. 9, 2006).

Therefore, it is unlawful for the Plaintiff to seek confirmation that the Plaintiff has a claim for insurance money, separate from the instant claim for insurance money payment, as there is no benefit of confirmation.

3. Determination on the claim for insurance money payment

A. The parties' assertion

1) The plaintiff's assertion

Since the Deceased, who is the insured of the instant insurance contract, died within the insurance period, the insurer, as the legal inheritor of the Deceased, the Defendant, as the beneficiary of the said insurance contract, is obligated to pay the death insurance money and the injury insurance money according to the contents guaranteed in the said insurance contract.

2) The defendant's assertion

The plaintiff did not enter the public register, such as the family relation register verifying that he is a statutory heir of the deceased, and even if the plaintiff is a statutory heir of the deceased, the plaintiff, who is merely a third-class heir, should prove the existence of the deceased more priority than the plaintiff through the public notice of the heir search, but can claim insurance money as the only heir of the deceased. Thus, unless there is such proof, the defendant cannot pay insurance money to the plaintiff.

B. Determination

The term "natural blood relative" refers to a person related to blood relationship, and a natural blood relative relationship naturally occurs by birth, and a person's status relationship is not determined only on the basis of the family relation register. Therefore, regardless of whether or not the family relation register is entered, the Plaintiff, who is a blood relative with the deceased, is the birth alone, and thus, is a sibling of the deceased, who is the deceased, and constitutes a legal heir as prescribed by Article 100 (1) 3 of the Civil Act.

The defendant asserts that the existence of the heir should be proved in preference to the plaintiff or the absence of the heir in the same rank through the public announcement of the heir search. However, the defendant's above argument cannot be accepted in light of the following: (i) the public announcement of the heir search under Article 1057 of the Civil Act is an inherited property process at the time when the existence of the heir is unclear; and (ii) the plaintiff's demand that the heir investigate the existence of other heir not entered in the deceased's family relation certificate is an excessive burden on the plaintiff, a legitimate heir (in addition, the plaintiff's parent cannot be known at around February 1976, and it is virtually impossible to grasp the existence of his parent's life or death at around 38 years after the lapse of the above period; and (iii) the defendant's demand that the above insurance money be paid to the plaintiff in accordance with the judgment of this case is valid as a quasi-resident's claim under Article 470 of the Civil Act; and (iv) the defendant's demand that the above insurance money be paid to the plaintiff pursuant to the judgment of this case.

C. Sub-committee

Therefore, the Defendant, as the insurer of the instant insurance contract, is the legal inheritor of the Deceased, is obligated to pay the Plaintiff, as the beneficiary of the said insurance contract, 32,327,304 won of the insurance proceeds under the said insurance contract and damages for delay at the rate of 20% per annum under the Act on Special Cases Concerning Promotion, etc. of Legal Proceedings from January 7, 2014 following the delivery of the copy of the instant complaint to the day of full payment, as sought by the Plaintiff.

4. Conclusion

Therefore, the part of the plaintiff's claim for confirmation of the status of the claimant of insurance money among the lawsuit of this case is unlawful, and it is so decided as per Disposition with the assent of all participating Justices.

[Attachment] Insurance Contract: omitted

Judges Cha Jin-Gyeong (Presiding Judge)