• Key point. Insurance policies are construed in favor of the insured, and exclusions are narrowly interpreted.
• Key point. An insurer may have a duty to provide a legal defense for a minister who is accused of misappropriating funds from an elderly member, although there may be no duty to pay any portion of judgment or verdict rendered against the minister.
An Alabama court ruled that a church's "directors and officers" insurance policy covered a lawsuit brought against a pastor for improperly obtaining money from an elderly member. The daughter of an elderly church member was appointed guardian of her mother's property. The daughter sued the minister of her mother's church, claiming that he improperly obtained funds from her mother by means of conversion, fraud, and undue influence. The minister notified the church's "directors and officers" insurer of the lawsuit and asked the ...
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