CASTAWAY

Captain

Captain

Final Approach
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First Officer
the movie with Tom Hanks... I have some questions.


How do the finances work here? He was an upper level manager at FedEx when the plane went down and one would assume he had substantial life insurance. At some point after the search was called off there would be a claim on that life insurance, no? Probably Kelly or Nolands mom, but whatever...does the money have to be paid back when he's found to be alive? What if it's spent?


And what does FedEx do? Do they give him back pay for the 5 or 6 years he's on the island? Does he owe taxes on it? FICA? I have to know....has anything like this happened in real life?
 
I really have no clue but the way the federal government is, he would probably have to prove that he is alive somehow.

David

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
He gets paid, and he gets to deduct from his U.S. taxes what he paid in foreign taxes paid for income earned overseas. He can also claim Wilson as a dependent, and deduct for energy efficiency upgrades to his cave.
 
I guess the big question is life insurance. If fraud is involved then of course the company is going to want the money back and press charges ect. But in the case of CAST AWAY (happy Steve?) there is no fraud. And I imagine that years later it's going to be hard to collect as the money has probably been spent.

And then there's the funeral. Most likely they'd have one right? Maybe even bury an empty casket? I don't really know the etiquette for these things. If there is a grave with a head stone do you dig it up and remove the head stone? Seems creepy living life knowing where your grave is and being able to read your own head stone.
 
Life insurance question is a good one, maybe someone who knows insurance can answer. Taxes are owed on income, only the elite like Buffet, Sharpton, Geithner get away with not paying taxes.

Headstone is easy, just have them remove the died on date, many people put their names on stones when a spouse dies, they just leave the died date off until needed. ;)
 
Sadly, I watched the movie last week when it came out on Netflix and wondered the same thing after it was over.

Since Noland was legally declared dead, there wouldn't be any fraud. My bet would be that the insurance company would look to fed ex to recover the money since he was on a company trip and all.

I would guess that fed ex would pay back pay plus some settlement. Again, since it was a company trip there could be some liability on thier part. Definitely would have to pay taxes on that. The IRS may come asking questions as to why he had not filed the last few years. They have never seemed very understanding.

Yeah, I know, it's just a movie.
 
PaulS said:
Life insurance question is a good one, maybe someone who knows insurance can answer. Taxes are owed on income, only the elite like Buffet, Sharpton, Geithner get away with not paying taxes.

Headstone is easy, just have them remove the died on date, many people put their names on stones when a spouse dies, they just leave the died date off until needed. ;)
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Why would you have a plot and headstone with no physical body? Presumably one would not expect to recover physical remains after loss at sea.
 
Captain said:
I guess the big question is life insurance. If fraud is involved then of course the company is going to want the money back and press charges ect. But in the case of CAST AWAY (happy Steve?) there is no fraud. And I imagine that years later it's going to be hard to collect as the money has probably been spent.

And then there's the funeral. Most likely they'd have one right? Maybe even bury an empty casket? I don't really know the etiquette for these things. If there is a grave with a head stone do you dig it up and remove the head stone? Seems creepy living life knowing where your grave is and being able to read your own head stone.
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Technically he owes the money back. This is not a big deal because unless it was a really big policy, he will make far more in insured compensation off surviving. Strict Liability applies to Fed Ex as well.

I think having a head stone would be just fine. Have them carve "Resurrected on..." On it.:D
 
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48dodge said:
Doesn't seem to be. Nobody has called someone else a jerk or an idiot by the 2nd page.
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We haven't hit the second page yet idiot. Jeez, what a Jerk, worse than Hitler.:rolleyes2:

There, Godwinned it as well.:lol:
 
PPC1052 said:
Huh? .
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Strict Liability is a legal status. No matter what goes wrong or why, you have total liability. This status only applies to Air Carries, Explosives Handlers, and Dangerous Animals Handlers.

Fed Ex would be liable to cover any and all losses and costs incurred as a result of the casualty. That would include problems that arise from the prior insurance settlement (provided that fraud is not involved).
 
Henning said:
Strict Liability is a legal status. No matter what goes wrong or why, you have total liability. This status only applies to Air Carries, Explosives Handlers, and Dangerous Animals Handlers.

Fed Ex would be liable to cover any and all losses and costs incurred as a result of the casualty. That would include problems that arise from the prior insurance settlement (provided that fraud is not involved).
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I know what strict liability is, you big silly. I just wondered why you thought it would apply. Most likely, any tort claim would be barred by workers compensation. And life insurers don't have the right of subrogation, anyway.
 
Henning said:
Technically he owes the money back. This is not a big deal because unless it was a really big policy, he will make far more in insured compensation off surviving. Strict Liability applies to Fed Ex as well.

I think having a head stone would be just fine. Have them carve "Resurrected on..." On it.:D
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I don't think he owes anything back if he wasn't a beneficiary of the policy on his own life. And the beneficiaries met the legal hurdles necessary to have him declared dead.

Here's a real lif example:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2253/what-happens-when-someone-legally-dead-shows-up-alive
 
PPC1052 said:
I know what strict liability is, you big silly. I just wondered why you thought it would apply. Most likely, any tort claim would be barred by workers compensation. And life insurers don't have the right of subrogation, anyway.
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Not sure workers comp applies. Why would a life insurer surbogate and where did that even come from?:confused:
 
Henning said:
Not sure workers comp applies.
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Not sure I understood your intent. My point was that Fed Ex couldn't be liable in tort to its employee under most state's versions of workers comp.


Henning said:
Why would a life insurer surbogate and where did that even come from?:confused:
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You were talking about Fed Ex making the insurance carrier whole. At least that's what I thought. If not, mea culpa.
 
What were you reading my mind. I watch the movie last night "Netflix" and had the same life insurance thoughts.





QUOTE=Captain;1671208]the movie with Tom Hanks... I have some questions.


How do the finances work here? He was an upper level manager at FedEx when the plane went down and one would assume he had substantial life insurance. At some point after the search was called off there would be a claim on that life insurance, no? Probably Kelly or Nolands mom, but whatever...does the money have to be paid back when he's found to be alive? What if it's spent?


And what does FedEx do? Do they give him back pay for the 5 or 6 years he's on the island? Does he owe taxes on it? FICA? I have to know....has anything like this happened in real life?[/QUOTE]
 
Henning said:
Technically he owes the money back. This is not a big deal because unless it was a really big policy, he will make far more in insured compensation off surviving. Strict Liability applies to Fed Ex as well.

I think having a head stone would be just fine. Have them carve "Resurrected on..." On it.:D
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Noland shouldn't owe anything as he was never paid, the beneficiaries were. And to demand that money back years later seems unfair too. Somehow I see FedEx being on the hook or maybe their insurance to repay the claim to the life insurance company.

Not sure what 'strict liability' means.
 
PPC1052 said:
Not sure I understood your intent. My point was that Fed Ex couldn't be liable in tort to its employee under most state's versions of workers comp.




You were talking about Fed Ex making the insurance carrier whole. At least that's what I thought. If not, mea culpa.
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Yes they can through losses of the family, he can't waive their rights through his employment contract. FedEx will hold liability for the losses.

I was talking about FedEx making the man and his family whole, and part of that is dealing with losses incurred in repaying the insurance.
 
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Smart insurance company wouldn't ask for the money back. But would use the incident for advertising. 'Take care of your family after death or just if they think you are dead for a bit.' Could do a bit better with the ad copy but that would be the gist of it.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Smart insurance company wouldn't ask for the money back. But would use the incident for advertising. 'Take care of your family after death or just if they think you are dead for a bit.' Could do a bit better with the ad copy but that would be the gist of it.
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I don't think they would ask for it back either, but contractually they could. I agree they would get far more mileage out of the advertising/sponsorship opportunity than getting the settlement back and chose that option. "We're glad you're alive, no we won't be asking for the money back, however we would like to ask you to do a commercial for us." type deal. Besides, that claim is already written off the books and closed, it would be a nightmare to get the money back.:rofl:
 
Depends on the State law for insurers. He would be legally declared "presumed" dead in many States. Not dead. So legal proceedings like Probate could continue, you could hold funeral/remembrance services, transfer titles etc, and life insurance policies could pay out under the presumption.

Then there's a statute of limitations in some States for the actual Death Certificate to be issued. And often the State insurance law mimics that statute. After that time frame, the insurer has no claim if the person is found alive.

In other States, there's none and the insurer can bring suit against the beneficiaries to be made whole for damages but the a Court will be highly suggestive that they come to a private agreement because the Court knows none of the damages were caused intentionally or maliciously.

Really need a good Probate attorney for this. And the dude reappearing from the dead really needs a good tax attorney.
 
In reality....Wife would say...."Get the F....ck outa here....if you really cared about us you would have stayed on that island....DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH COMPENSATION FEDEX HAS GIVEN US?? "

Gimme a kiss sweetheart...and disappear before I shoot ur ass!!!:goofy:
 
Weird. I watched Cast Away this morning..

but I didn't wonder about life insurance.
 
I'm pretty confident that every life insurer in existence would not just ask for it back, but they'd fight for it. Someone with his income would probably be insured for way too much to not get it back. And it's not like it sullies their reputation for going after the beneficiary or FedEx.

Funny, I have the same thoughts about back pay/life ins. every time I watch it.

Hanks is by far my favorite actor. A lot of range and he's been in a lot of good movies. I always liked Helen Hunt too. She's about my wife's age and when they were in their mid-20s they could have been twins.

I read some trivia on Cast Away the other day. Apparently filming was delayed a few months when Hanks hurt his leg in the water. And some of the stuff that was ad-libbed was pretty interesting.

The most agonizing scene was the one where he uses the skate to take his tooth out. Man, that hurt just watching it.
 
Henning said:
Yes they can through losses of the family, he can't waive their rights through his employment contract. FedEx will hold liability for the losses.

I was talking about FedEx making the man and his family whole, and part of that is dealing with losses incurred in repaying the insurance.
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Some time when you are bored do a Westlaw search for "workers compensation" and "exclusive remedy." If you don't have Westlaw, you can probably just google it.
 
PPC1052 said:
He gets paid, and he gets to deduct from his U.S. taxes what he paid in foreign taxes paid for income earned overseas. He can also claim Wilson as a dependent, and deduct for energy efficiency upgrades to his cave.
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Yeah, but it was a tax-free island, so that wouldn't apply. However, the first $140,000 or so of foreign earned income isn't counted and since he started his own business (recovering lost packages), he filed a schedule C and most likely paid no taxes.
 
PPC1052 said:
Some time when you are bored do a Westlaw search for "workers compensation" and "exclusive remedy." If you don't have Westlaw, you can probably just google it.
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Workers comp doesn't apply to everyone, not sure if the position represented is one of those.
 
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