Bennett v. Bennett

387 P.2d 517, 63 Wash. 2d 404, 1963 Wash. LEXIS 568
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 12, 1963
Docket36736, 36778
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 387 P.2d 517 (Bennett v. Bennett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bennett v. Bennett, 387 P.2d 517, 63 Wash. 2d 404, 1963 Wash. LEXIS 568 (Wash. 1963).

Opinion

Donworth, J.

This is a consolidated appeal. The first appeal is from a dismissal of plaintiff’s suit for divorce. The second appeal is by defendant from an order, entered after the dismissal, granting to plaintiff attorney’s fees and costs on the first appeal.

Each appeal will be discussed separately.

Appellant, in the first appeal, is the plaintiff wife, who sued for a divorce, distribution of property, and for attorney’s fees to be paid out of such portion of the community property as might be awarded to the husband. (Since the husband is the appellant in the second appeal, hereafter throughout this opinion, to avoid confusion, the wife will be referred to as plaintiff, and the husband as defendant.)

First Appeal

Plaintiff’s complaint alleges facts 1 which she contends constitute grounds upon which she is entitled to a decree of divorce. After hearing the evidence presented by both *406 parties during a trial of about 2% hours’ duration, the trial court rendered an oral decision, holding that plaintiff had not shown grounds for .divorce. Thereafter, plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration was denied after oral argument supplemented by written briefs. Her motion for new trial was likewise denied. Findings of fact and one conclusion of law were then entered. Judgment dismissing the complaint was likewise entered, from which plaintiff appealed.

The parties to this action were married June 29,1929, and have lived in Seattle since their marriage, except for the period from 1933 to 1942, when they lived in Walla Walla. They have one son, who was born in 1933. He is married, and plaintiff had for several weeks prior to the trial resided with him and his family. At the time of the trial, defendant was 56 years of age, and plaintiff was about a year younger.

Defendant has been steadily employed by Seattle Hardware Company since April 9, 1923. In 1950, his employer asked defendant to be their sales representative in Alaska, and since that time he has lived in Alaska 9 or 10 months of the year. The compensation that he was receiving at the time of the trial was about $10,000 a year (with bonus). During the 12 years he has been working in Alaska, defendant sent all his pay checks to plaintiff, who deposited them in a joint account in a Seattle bank. In September, 1961, she wrote him not to send her any more checks because she wanted to be completely independent of him. He subsequently drew out the balance in their joint account.

Plaintiff has been employed by the Bon Marche, a department store in Seattle, since 1941. During the last 12 years *407 she has been employed at its Northgate branch as manager of the candy and bakery departments. At the time of the trial, she was earning about $3,900 annually (plus a bonus of $325 per annum). The community acquired property of the value of $32,513.78, of which approximately $24,000 was cash. In her complaint, plaintiff asked for a distribution of the community property.

Plaintiff’s first assignment of error is described in her brief as follows:

“Assignment of Error No. 1 asserts that the trial court was guilty of a gross abuse of judicial discretion in making and entering the italicized portions of Finding of Fact III, which is as follows:
“III. Tn 1943 or 1944, defendant struck plaintiff with his hand. This occurrence and any other physical harm defendant may have caused plaintiff was provoked by plaintiff. There have been no such occurrences for over ten years. Approximately twenty years ago defendant was guilty of an act of marital infidelity. All of the foregoing was long in the past and has been condoned and forgiven by plaintiff. For approximately three years last past plaintiff has been cold and indifferent to defendant, has told defendant she does not love him, and has denied him all sexual relations. As a result of plaintiff’s attitude and conduct toward him, defendant wrote plaintiff a letter in the summer of 1961, from Alaska, indicating he felt there was little reason for him to come home. Plaintiff replied, stating if that was the case, she should get a divorce. Defendant replied by protesting against a divorce. Since the institution of this action, defendant has felt plaintiff to be in need of medical help and has consulted with the pastor of the church to which the parties belong, plaintiff’s supervisor at her place of employment, the adult son of the parties, and one or two family friends, in an effort to learn if such be the case.’ ” (Italics supplied by plaintiff.)

Under the heading “Gross Abuse of Judicial Discretion,” in her brief, plaintiff states her position in regard to this assignment:

“This appeal does not involve the right of the trial judge to weigh the evidence. This appeal does not involve the right of a trial judge to refuse to believe the testimony of a witness in a case where the credibility of the witness *408 has been attacked,- or where there is other evidence in the case which disputes or throws doubt upon the testimony of a witness. We fully recognize the right and authority of a trial judge to decide which witnesses he will believe, in cases where the testimony is in dispute. However, even in cases where the testimony of witnesses is in dispute, a trial judge must have some basis for accepting the testimony of one of the witnesses whose testimony is in conflict. It is our view that a trial judge has no right to ignore the testimony of a witness, whether such witness be a party to the action or not, simply because the judge does not like the way the witness combs his or her hair, or because the witness is calm, thoughtful and collected in a situation where the judge thinks some emotion should be evidenced.”

The oral decision of the trial court is herein set forth in full (with the exception of two paragraphs relating to property items) because of plaintiff’s principal contention that the court grossly abused its discretion in dismissing her complaint:

“The Court: All right, sir. Thank you.
“I should make certain findings of fact.
“I needn’t cover the entire action, because there was no dispute as to the date and place of marriage, the age of the parties, the early history of the marriage, and the fact that each of them is employed and self-supporting, and has been for a number of years.
“According to Mrs. Bennett this trouble between the parties goes back to 1929 when they were married, or, prior thereto, and that against her better judgment she married Mr. Bennett without any affection for him and due to his inducements and those of her mother.
“I believe this conclusion by her is a matter of retrospect, a product of her marriage, that started running wild about three or four years ago, and she does not have grounds for divorce.
“On disputed questions of fact, I believe Mr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

PUD DISTRICT NO. 1, KLICKITAT COUNTY v. International Insurance Co.
881 P.2d 1020 (Washington Supreme Court, 1994)
Layne v. Hyde
773 P.2d 83 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1989)
Peterson v. David
419 P.2d 138 (Washington Supreme Court, 1966)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
387 P.2d 517, 63 Wash. 2d 404, 1963 Wash. LEXIS 568, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bennett-v-bennett-wash-1963.