California Life was placed in conservatorship.

The Los Angeles insurance firm was taken over by California insurance officials, who said the company was insolvent by about $700,000. The company, which had $31 million in assets and about 64,000 policyholders, had been suffering from problems since 1979, including sizable operating losses in 1983 from which it never recovered, insurance officials said. California Life is the 10th insurer this year to be seized by state insurance regulators.