93 Pa. Super. 463 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1928
Argued April 23, 1928.
The claimant is a native of and a resident in the village of Litova in the Republic of Poland, where she *465
was married on February 3, 1912, to Constanti Sznitko. In the latter part of the same year the husband came to the United States and secured employment in a coal mine of the defendant in Indiana County, where on the 4th of March, 1925, he was killed by a fall of slate. His migration to this country was with the consent and approval of his wife, their object being the improvement of their material condition. The claimant never came to this country, nor did her husband return to Poland, although, as developed in the evidence, he had expressed his intention to return thereto. Testimony was taken in Poland to establish the status of the claimant and her case was made out principally on her own evidence. The case turned on the question whether she was actually dependent at the time of her husband's death. The Referee found in her favor on her evidence and the testimony of a witness who corroborated her to some extent as to her husband's contribution to her support. An appeal was taken to the Compensation Board, which, after consideration of the case, reversed the conclusion of the Referee and dismissed the complaint. This was done for the reason that the claimant was not actually dependent. Thereafter an appeal was taken to the Court of Common Pleas, which tribunal reversed the finding of the Compensation Board and sustained the award of the Referee. The subject for our consideration, as in the court below, was whether the decision of the Compensation Board turned on a question of law, or was a conclusion of fact based on the evidence. There was no contradiction of the evidence offered by the claimant. Her testimony was not incredible and she was corroborated in a degree by the evidence of a witness who became well acquainted with her husband in this country in 1915. According to the testimony of this witness, Sznitko told him that he was married and had a wife and child in Poland. The witness saw him writing to her at different times and saw him enclose *466
money in letters which he said he was sending to his wife. He also saw letters from the wife in her husband's possession. The remittances referred to were $10 or $20 at a time. The witness could not state how frequently they were made. The claimant testified that her husband constantly contributed to her support. It thus appears that the testimony was direct and clear to the effect that the claimant was actually dependent on her husband and was receiving support from him. It was not necessary that she show that she was wholly dependent. Contribution of partial support was all that the claimant was required to show. While dependency must be actual when the parties are not living together, the wife continues to be dependent under the statute, though support rendered is not sufficient to maintain the family unless a separation of the parties is in effect a repudiation by the husband of his legal obligation which is consented to by the wife: Morris v. Yough Coal Supply Co.,
The judgment is, therefore, affirmed.