State v. ClinchState v. Clinch
- Reporters:
- , ,
- Before:
- Grimes
Lead Opinion
The parties agreed to the following facts: On October 10, 1957, Loretta Belanger was admitted as a patient at the New Hampshire Hospital and has remained confined there continuously to the present time. She is the daughter of the deceased, Lee Clinch, and, when confined, was the wife of Adrien Belanger now residing in Maine. They were never divorced or legally separated.
“On October 10, 1957, the late Lee Clinch was retired from his employment . . . and was 66 years of age. He was a widower. He did not own any real property. His only sources of income consisted of social security benefits in the amount of $108.50 per month from September 1957 through December 1958, and of $116 per month from January 1959 through March 1965, and of benefits under the terms of the Brown Company employees’ pension plan, in the amount of . . . [$43.40] per month, plus interest accruals on a savings deposit at City Savings Bank, at Berlin .... The amount of said savings deposit was then in the sum of $11,038.30. He was then indebted in the sum of $2,046.60 for the expenses of last sickness and burial of his wife, who had died on September 23, 1957. He did not have any other sources of income, nor did he acquire any other re-resources from the 10th day of October 1957, until his death on April 24,1965.”
His estate consisted of household goods of the value of $494.50; a savings account of $9,975.56; insurance policies payable to his estate in the amount of $4,334; cash of $213, making a total estate of $15,017.06.
The total expenses for the care of Loretta Belanger from October 10, 1957 to April 24, 1965, the date of death of Lee Clinch were agreed to be $13,073.67.
The Trial Court ruled as follows on the following questions of law submitted to it on the above agreed facts:
“1. Were the weekly income and other resources of the late Lee Clinch, at any time from October 10, 1957, until he died on April 24, 1965, more than sufficient to provide a reasonable subsistence compatible with decency and health within the meaning of
“3. If the answer to question No. 1 is in the negative, to what extent, if any, is the executor of the will of the late Lee Clinch liable for the payment of said expenses under the provisions of
Question No. 2 which was premised on an affirmative answer to question No. 1 was not answered by the Court.
The purpose of statutes such as
Under R.L., c. 17, ss. 22-25, the State was obligated to support an insane person “who has no means of support and no relatives of sufficient ability chargeable therewith” (s. 22). The State commission of lunacy was to determine whether a patient “or any relative chargeable therewith” was able to bear ah or a part of such expense and order part payment if warranted (s. 23). The State could recover the expense of support from the inmate himself or: the person chargeable without any provision to recover from the estate of either (s. 25).
Laws 1951, 250:28-33, now
The Trial Court has ruled in effect that Lee Clinch during his lifetime could not have been ordered by the Superior Court (s. 42) to contribute to the support of his daughter because his income did not meet the standards of section 41. The Court, *305however, has charged his estate (s. 43) with the payment of his daughter’s support for that period.
Defendant argues that inasmuch as it has been established that Lee Clinch was never legally chargeable for his daughter’s support his estate cannot be charged with it. In other words defendant’s position is that an order requiring the estate of a relative of the class enumerated in section 41 is impermissible unless the relative was able to pay the expenses of support at the time they were incurred. We agree with this position.
Laws 1951, 250:28-33 ( now
It is also from the estate of these same “persons legally chargeable with his support” that
The Trial Court has ruled on the agreed facts that, at no time during the period of confinement of his daughter, did Lee Clinch meet “the weekly income and other resources” test (
Exception sustained.
*306Grimes, J., dissented; the others concurred.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting:
I agree that under
Whatever may have been the probabilities of his being able to do this within his “income or other resources” viewed prospectively, the evidence before us viewed in retrospect establishes the cold, hard fact that he did do it. During the period of his daughter’s confinement, his savings account, after payment of his wife’s last sickness and funeral expenses, increased from $8,991.70 to $9,975.56. This alone conclusively demonstrates that he had “more than sufficient” income and “other resources” to meet the test of chargeability without considering the availability of whatever cash surrender value his insurance policies had during his lifetime and the $213 cash on hand at his death.
I cannot believe the Legislature intended that in deciding the question of chargeability in a suit against an estate we should ignore what has actually transpired, or that it intended that the State would be barred from recovering under the circumstances of this case. I therefore most respectfully dissent.