81 Pa. Super. 222 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1922
Argued October 5, 1922. William Crawford, the decedent, and this appellant having been married in 1915, entered into a written agreement, on August 21, 1917, covenanting to live separate and apart during their natural lives, the husband covenanting not to molest, disturb or interfere with his wife, and the wife, this appellant, in consideration of the sum of $100 to her then paid, releasing the husband from all further liability to contribute to her support. The execution of this agreement was immediately followed by a separation of the parties, which continued until the death of the husband, on December 31, 1920. The husband having died intestate, letters of administration were granted to this appellant in January, 1921. In March, 1921, the appellant presented her petition to the orphans' court praying for the allowance to her of the widow's exemption of $500, in cash, out of the estate. An answer was filed to this petition by Mary E. Crawford, the only daughter of the decedent, denying the right of the appellant to the widow's exemption, for the reason that the decedent and the appellant had been living separate and apart for three and a half years, in pursuance of the articles of separation, a copy of which was attached to and made part of the answer, and that the family relation had not existed between the decedent and the appellant at the time of the death of William Crawford. The averments of fact contained in this answer are conceded to be true. The appellant subsequently filed her account as administratrix and upon the audit it appeared that the debts exceeded the amount for distribution, the estate was insolvent. The appellant insisted that she was entitled, as against the creditors, to take the exemption of $500, under the provisions of section 12 of the Fiduciaries Act of 1917, P.L. 471. The court below overruled this contention and distributed the fund to the creditors of the estate. The widow appeals.
The daughter, who seems to have been a member of the family of the deceased, has not appealed. We are not, *224
therefore, required to consider her right to take the exemption, if the widow was not competent to assert such a right. The sole question is: Has the widow the right to take the exemption when, in the absence of any evidence of misconduct on the part of the decedent, she has been living apart from her husband for three years immediately prior to his death in pursuance of articles of separation voluntarily entered into upon her part? The law was well settled, prior to the legislation of 1917, that when a wife had been voluntarily living apart from her husband, without such reasonable cause as would entitle her to a divorce, she did not upon his death become entitled to the benefit of the exemption out of his estate: Nye's App.,
The decree is affirmed and the appeal dismissed at cost of the appellant. *227