36 A.2d 857 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1944
Argued March 13, 1944. This is an appeal from an order of support. Appellee *592 presented to the court below her petition for support in which she alleged that she was the wife of appellant by virtue of a common law marriage; that they had lived together thereafter as husband and wife for eleven years; and that appellant had deserted her without reasonable cause. No answer was filed to the petition. The court below made an order requiring appellant to pay appellee the sum of $6 per week.
The scope of an appeal is limited to the statement of questions involved, and only assignments of error encompassed therein may be considered. Com. v. Cauffiel,
It follows that our first duty in the present case is to ascertain whether there was evidence to sustain the order of the court, which was based upon a finding that the parties entered into a valid common law contract of marriage. It is not denied that appellant deserted appellee on September 24, 1943, and that he has failed to support her since that time. The material question is whether, under the evidence, the court below was justified in finding that there was a common law marriage between the parties. Whether one person has been legally married to another is a mixed question of fact and law. Baker v. Mitchell etal.,
Appellant's testimony is in part a denial, but he did not deny that to all outward appearances they lived as husband and wife, that he introduced her as such among his friends, and that in July, 1943, he stated to his draft board that he was married.
This evidence was in itself sufficient to sustain a finding that the parties had entered into a common law marriage upon which the order of support rests. Appellant urges the proposition that the court below should not have accepted appellee's testimony as to the agreement which is disputed by appellant. This suggestion ignores the realities of the situation. The court below stated that it believed the testimony of appellee to be credible. The evidence of cohabitation and reputation could be received and considered in corroboration of her testimony that a marriage contract was in fact entered into. Murdock's Estate,
Appellant complains that the court below unduly limited the cross-examination of appellee as to hospital treatment at the time she met appellant. As a matter of fact, further cross-examination elicited from appellee a negative answer to that which counsel for appellant apparently sought to establish. We find no such error as would justify us in setting aside the court's finding and order.
Order is affirmed.