47 A.2d 233 | Pa. | 1946
Argued April 11, 1946. In the distribution of an intestate's estate, is a claimant, as widow, barred from attacking the validity of a foreign divorce which she herself procured? The court below answered this question in the affirmative.
The decedent, a widower without children, on July 5, 1930, married the appellant, a widow with a child and issue of a deceased child. In 1933, the husband was committed to an institution for the insane, and in 1937, the wife was appointed guardian of his estate. He remained in the institution until his death on May 24, 1943. There was no issue by the marriage. In 1941 the wife went to Reno, Nevada, where she procured a divorce. In the divorce proceeding the wife falsely testified that she was a bona fide resident of Nevada, domiciled in that state. She bases her right to claim as widow upon the ground that the Nevada court had no jurisdiction over her and her husband and hence its decree was a nullity. The learned court below rejected the claim, holding that appellant was barred from attacking the decree which she had procured. This appeal followed.
We need not enter into a discussion on the extraterritorial effect of a divorce decree of a sister state, whose jurisdiction was challenged on the ground of fraud practiced upon the court: see Williams v. North Carolina,
Conceding, therefore, that the foreign decree of divorce was invalid because of lack of jurisdiction, the question still remains: is a spouse barred in a proceeding, such as that before us, from attacking the validity of such a divorce which he or she procured?
While some courts regard a decree of divorce by a court without jurisdiction as a nullity, a majority hold that a spouse who procures such a decree will not be permitted to impeach it. The bases for such decisions are varied. Most of them are supported on the ground of estoppel or quasi-estoppel; others on general equity principles; that no one can profit for his or her wrong; that complainant must come into equity with "clean hands". See annotations in 153 A.L.R. 941, supplementing other annotations in A.L.R.: 140 p. 914; 130 p. 101; 122 p. 1321; 105 p. 817 and 39 p. 677. See also: 17 Am. Jurisprudence, Divorce and Separation, section 760; Restatement, Conflict of Laws, section 112; Freedman, Marriage and Divorce, Vol. 2, section 797.
Invalid foreign divorce decrees have been presented in varied cases resulting in decisions which cannot always be reconciled. One or both parties may have remarried on the faith of such a decree; a remarriage may have been either innocently contracted by one of the parties or with knowledge of the fraud. Rights of innocent parties to the second marriage and their children must be considered. In some cases the rights of the parties relate solely to property or financial matters. Perhaps the question has arisen more frequently in the State of New York than in any other jurisdiction. The earlier New York cases were frequently in conflict with each other. But in 1940 the New York Court of Appeals in Krause v. Krause,
Pennsylvania adopted (not in the same language) this doctrine as early as 1929. In that year the case of Willetts v.Willetts,
It is to be observed that the Willetts case was an example of what the New York cases term a "matrimonial action". In this class of cases the Commonwealth is an interested party because of its concern with the marital status of its citizens. SeeBraum v. Potter Title Trust Co.,
But where the litigation relates solely to marital property rights, and does not concern subsisting marital status, the Commonwealth is not regarded as an interested party. In such purely personal financial disputes, we have held that a libellant is barred from attacking the validity of a foreign divorce which he or she procured: Miltimore v. Miltimore etal.,
Whether in cases where public interest makes the Commonwealth an interested party, equities such as innocent reliance on invalid decree; legitimacy of children, etc., may be considered (Grossman's Estate (No. 1),
The facts in the present case relate solely to property rights arising out of the marriage. The matrimonial status was effectively terminated upon the death of the husband. The wife confesses that she committed perjury in the Nevada court when she swore that she was domiciled in Nevada and intended to reside there permanently. She seeks to excuse this wrong by stating that she committed it to prevent her husband's kin from receiving any part of her estate should she predecease him. Apparently her position is that had she died first the fraudulent divorce would have protected her estate from her husband, but as he died before her then she should be allowed to demonstrate her divorce was invalid and as she remained his widow was entitled to a spouse's share under the intestate laws. In such circumstances claimant cannot be permitted, solely for her own personal advantage, to attack the validity of the foreign divorce which she herself procured.
The learned court below found as a fact that "decedent left no legal heirs surviving him" and hence his estate "escheats to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." We have read the testimony and find no support for such finding. In order to escheat a fund, proceedings must *266
be had as prescribed in the Escheat Act of May 2, 1889, P. L. 66, 27 PS, section 1 et seq. Due notice must be made and hearings had to determine the existence of heirs and next of kin. When an award is made to the Commonwealth by escheat it thereafter holds the fund as owner. No such procedure was here followed. This fund should have been ordered paid into the State Treasury without escheat. See Act of April 21, 1921, P. L. 211, 27 PS, section 431 et seq.; Act of April 9, 1929, P. L. 343, sections 1309-10-11, 72 PS, section 1309 et seq.; Link'sEstate (No. 1),
The decree of the court, as herein modified, is affirmed, at the cost of the appellant.