Historic (1930s) life insurance procedures

Hello life insurance experts! I’ve been doing some genealogical research and am completely clueless about how life insurance works now and/or worked in the 1930s. Essentially, I’m trying to figure out whether the life insurance company where my great-grandfather had a policy would have conducted an internal (private) investigation, or whether the court system would have been involved and I might be able to track down those public documents.

Here’s a little more about the situation, if it helps: my great-grandfather died in either an accident or suspicious circumstances in the early 1930s. I have heard third-hand that there was some kind of “trial” which resulted in my great-grandmother never receiving any money from the policy, but I would love to know anything more about how that decision was made and how she would have received the news. Unfortunately, zero insurance documents have been passed down to me and I’m only working with some sketchy family memories and what I can dredge up in public records and archives.

Thank you so much in advance for any information you can share!