231 Minn. 144 | Minn. | 1950
In an action to determine the legal settlement for purposes of poor relief of one Olive Underwood, the court determined that the county of Freeborn was the place of such settlement. The county appeals from an order denying its motion for a new trial.
Olive Underwood is 36 years old. On August 1, 1923, the Underwood family moved to the city of Waterville. They remained there until about June 1, 1942, when they moved to Wabasha. While
The question for determination by the trial court under the above facts was whether the legal settlement of Olive for poor relief purposes was in the city of Waterville in Le Sueur county, in the city of Minneapolis in Hennepin county, or in the village
Olive is incapacitated from making a living by reason of a physical condition known as spastic paralysis.
The court made 11 separate findings of fact. The county of Freeborn made a motion for amended findings in certain particulars. It also made a motion for a new trial on the following grounds in the event the motion for amended findings should be denied:
(a) That the findings are not justified by the evidence.
(b) That the findings are contrary to law.
(c) That the conclusions -of law are not sustained by the findings of fact.
(d) That the decision is not justified by the evidence and is contrary to law.
As recently as Kiebach v. Kiebach, 227 Minn. 328, 332, 35 N. W. (2d) 530, 533, we have held that an assignment that “the findings of fact are not sustained by the evidence and contrary to law” is wholly insufficient to challenge any specific finding of fact. If no other grounds were stated in the motion for new trial, no question would be presented by this appeal, and an affirmance would follow.
However, the county of Freeborn made a motion for a new trial on the further ground that the conclusions of law are not sustained by the findings of fact, and assigns as error the conclusions of law which were based on the court’s findings of fact.
The following facts are undisputed: Olive is unable to walk, but crawls or rolls when she wishes to go from one place to another. She is able to get out of bed and make her own bed. She is able to feed herself, but is shaky in doing so. There is a slight impairment in her hearing, and her speech is rather indistinct. She
The court’s finding of fact No. 8 is as follows:
“That because of her physical and mental condition the said Olive Underwood is and ever since her birth has been wholly dependent upon her father, Joseph Underwood, for financial' care and support, and up to the time that she left Waterville, Minnesota, about the 1st day of June, 1944, was wholly dependent upon her father and the other members of her immediate family for care and attention, and that such condition has existed since her departure from Waterville, Minnesota, about June 1, 1944, and still exists; that the status of the said Olive Underwood is and always has been the status of an infant; that she does not possess the intelligence of an infant seven years of age, nor does she possess the physical propensities of an infant two years of age; and that ever since birth she has been and still is wholly dependent upon her father, Joseph Underwood, and the other members of her family.”
The court concluded as a matter of law that the legal settlement of Olive was in Freeborn county, where, it states, the father
The applicable statute is M. S. A. 261.07, which reads in part as follows:
“Every person except those hereinafter mentioned, who has resided two years continuously in any county, shall be deemed to have a settlement therein, if it has the county system; if it has the town system, he shall have a settlement in the town, city, or village therein in which he has longest resided within two years. * * * The time during which a person * * * has been the inmate of a * * * nursing home for the care of the invalid or aged, whether public or private, * * * shall be excluded in determining the time of residence hereunder, * * *. Every minor not emancipated and settled in his own right and not under guardianship of the director of social welfare or the director of public institutions, or one of the state institutions as a feeble-minded, delinquent, or dependent person shall have the same settlement as the parent with whom he has resided.”
The court found that during the time the father was employed at London, that is, from March 15, 1943, until April 1, 1947, he lived in London in Freeborn county “with the full intent, decision, and selection to make said place his home and residence for all purposes,” and as a conclusion of law that the legal settlement of Olive followed that of her father.
If Olive were a minor, under the statute quoted, she would have the same settlement as her parent. However, Olive is an adult. She is not under guardianship. Because of her mental and physical infirmities, the court found that “the status of the said Olive Underwood is and always has been the status of an infant.” In other words, that, because of her mental and physical infirmities, she takes the same settlement as her father. Although the statute above quoted refers to minors, that is, persons under age, the
In In re Settlement of Peniondtz, 218' Minn. 525, 16 N. W. (2d) 902, the legal settlement for purposes of poor relief of a poor person, an adult who was feeble-minded, was involved. She had been placed under the guardianship of the state board of control. It was contended that, by virtue of her mental condition and resulting incapacity to express any intention as to her place of residence and her lack of legal capacity, she was disqualified from gaining a poor relief settlement in St. Louis county. St. Louis county admitted that it would be the proper place for settlement, except for the fact that the poor person was feeble-minded and under guardianship during the time she lived in that county. In holding that the place of legal settlement was St. Louis county, we said (218 Minn. 528, 16 N. W. [2d] 904):
“* * * No exception is set forth in the statute preventing persons non compos mentis from acquiring a legal settlement, and, by its express provisions, the law is made applicable to all persons not specifically excluded by its terms. Therein the only requirement necessary for gaining legal settlement is residence in the place involved for a designated period of time, and the only persons excepted from its provisions are minors, inmates of public institutions, and recipients of public relief. Thereunder it is clear that the indigent person here involved had the right and capacity to acquire a legal settlement in St. Louis county even though under guardianship at the time. * * *
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“* * * we cannot escape the conclusion that the trial court was correct in its determination that Maggie Peniondtz acquired a residence in the county of St. Louis, even though at the time she was removed thereto she was incapable of expressing any choice or intention with respect to such removal and even though she*150 was under guardianship throughout that period. To hold otherwise would be to extend, by judicial construction, the exceptions to the statutory rule clearly and specifically expressed therein.”
That case seems to us to be controlling here. In our opinion, Olive did not take the legal settlement of her father. She is an adult 36 years of age. She does not come within the exceptions set out in the statute. The law is made applicable to all persons not specifically excluded by its terms, as we said in the Peniondtz case. There is nothing in the statute preventing Olive from having a legal settlement of her own for poor relief purposes. She never lived in Freeborn county. From the time she left Waterville on June 18, 1944, until the time of the hearing, she had lived at private rest homes, which seem to qualify as nursing homes for the care of invalids and the aged. That period of time is to be excluded in determining the time of residence. Under the statute, therefore, her legal settlement for poor relief purposes could not be either Minneapolis or Lester Prairie. That leaves Waterville as the place of legal settlement of Olive for purposes of poor relief. Except for a period of a few months, she resided in Water-ville for over 20 years until June 18, 1944, and Waterville is the last place she had acquired legal settlement for poor relief purposes.
In our opinion, the court erred in its conclusions of law based on its findings of fact. A new trial would not change the fact situation, as all matters were fully gone into. It is therefore ordered that the court substitute new conclusions of law in conformity with this opinion.
Order reversed with directions.