In Insurance Company v. Young's Administrator, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether an insurance company was liable for the death of a policyholder. The policyholder had died without leaving a will, and his administrator was seeking to recover the proceeds of the policy. The insurance company argued that the policy was void because the policyholder had failed to pay the premiums. The Court held that the policy was valid and that the insurance company was liable for the death of the policyholder. The Court reasoned that the policyholder had paid the premiums in full and that the insurance company had accepted the premiums without any reservation. The Court also held that the policyholder had a reasonable expectation that the policy would remain in effect and that the insurance company had a duty to honor the policy. The Court concluded that the insurance company was liable for the death of the policyholder and ordered it to pay the proceeds of the policy to the administrator.

In Insurance Company v. Young's Administrator, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a life insurance policy issued by an insurance company had been legally assigned to another party before the insured died. The majority opinion held that the assignment of the policy was valid and binding on both parties; however, Justice Field dissented from this decision. He argued that there were no facts in evidence which showed that any consideration had passed between the assignor and assignee when they entered into their agreement for transfer of ownership rights over the policy, as required under state law at that time. Furthermore, he noted that even if such consideration could be shown to have existed it would still not make up for other deficiencies in terms of how notice was given or what form it took with respect to either party involved in this transaction. Therefore, Justice Field concluded his dissent by stating his belief that since all conditions necessary for a valid assignment were not met here then neither party should be bound by its terms and thus no legal effect should result from it whatsoever.