174 N.E. 534 | Ill. | 1930
The petitioner, by leave of this court, has brought here for review the record of the circuit court of Cook county confirming an award of the Industrial Commission against *401 him in favor of Mary Allesch as the dependent mother of Frank Allesch, deceased.
By stipulation of parties the only controverted questions before the court are: First, is the mother of an illegitimate child a parent within the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation act; and second, if so, was the claimant in fact dependent on the deceased, who was her illegitimate son.
Mary Allesch, while a single woman, gave birth to an illegitmate son, who went through life under the name of Frank Allesch, he assuming the name of the man his mother married although he was not adopted by nor was he the son of Allesch. The rights, if any, of Mary Allesch under the Compensation act rest upon sub-section (c) of section 7. (Cahill's Stat. 1929, chap. 48, par. 207.) The sub-section, in part, is as follows: "If no amount is payable under paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section and the employee leaves any parent or parents, child or children, grandparent, grandchild, or grandchildren, who at the time of injury were dependent upon the earnings of the employee, then such proportion of a sum equal to four times the average annual earnings of the employee as such dependency bears to total dependency but not less in any event than one thousand six hundred fifty dollars and not more in any event than three thousand seven hundred fifty dollars."
The word "parent" is defined in Webster's New International Dictionary as, "One who begets, or brings forth, offspring," and this is its ordinary meaning. Nowhere in the Workmen's Compensation act is it indicated that the word "parent" has a meaning different from that when it is used in its ordinary sense. While by common acceptation the word "parent," without limiting, defining or qualifying language, is ordinarily used to designate a legitimate relationship between a mother or father and their issue, yet the trend of modern legislation and court decisions has been toward a more liberal use of the term as regards the mother *402
of an illegitimate child. The harsh doctrines of the common law, which gave an unwedded mother and her illegitimate offspring little standing or protection, have been modified by the legislature and court decisions of this State. Under the common law an illegitimate had no inheritable blood and was kin to no one. In 1845 the legislature of this State abrogated the common law rule and provided that an illegitimate might inherit from its mother. Subsequent legislatures further extended the rights of illegitimates until 1872, when the present Statute of Descent was passed. The natural or unwedded mother is made a legitimate mother, or a "parent," under the Statute of Descent, and she and her illegitimate issue may inherit, one from the other. (Cahill's Stat. 1929, chap. 39, Sec. 2.) By the Injuries act (Cahill's Stat. 1929, chap. 70, sec. 2,) a mother, as the next of kin, has the benefit of an action by the administrator of the estate of her deceased illegitimate issue for damages for wrongful death, as that act provides for the distribution of suit money to the widow and next of kin in the proportion provided by law in relation to the distribution of personal property left by persons dying intestate, and as was said inBales v. Elder,
Plaintiff in error cites the case of Murrell v. IndustrialCom.
With reference to the further contention that claimant was not, in fact, dependent on her illegitimate son, a review of the evidence shows that the deceased contributed $500 to the Allesch family the year before he died. Of this amount $100 was paid to the claimant's husband and approximately $50 was given to their son Tony. The claimant's living expenses were shown to be about $700 per year, one-half of which was received by income from the farm on which they lived. Her illegitimate son's contributions of $350 to her for her own use paid the remaining half of her living expenses. Dependency is established when it is shown that the claimant relied upon the deceased for his or her means of living. To establish dependency it is not necessary to *404
show that the claimant was without other means of support. (Richardson Sand Co. v. Industrial Com.
The amount of compensation due the claimant was correctly determined, and the judgment of the circuit court of Cook county is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.