Chaachou v. Chaachou

73 So. 2d 830, 1954 Fla. LEXIS 1731
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedApril 27, 1954
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 73 So. 2d 830 (Chaachou v. Chaachou) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chaachou v. Chaachou, 73 So. 2d 830, 1954 Fla. LEXIS 1731 (Fla. 1954).

Opinion

73 So.2d 830 (1954)

CHAACHOU
v.
CHAACHOU et al.

Supreme Court of Florida. Division A.

April 27, 1954.
Rehearing Denied June 21, 1954.

*831 E.F.P. Brigham, Phillip Goldman, George W. Wright, Jr., and James Pilafian, Miami, for petitioner.

Pallot, Silver & Mulloy, Dubbin, Blatt & Schiff, Miami, and Turnbull & Pepper, Tallahassee, for respondents.

MATHEWS, Justice.

This was a suit for divorce, suit money and counsel fees, and for alimony both temporary and permanent. The relief sought is based upon the allegations of a common law marriage. The petition for certiorari seeks to quash an order holding that a common law marriage was not sufficiently established to warrant alimony, suit money and attorneys' fees pendente lite.

Khudourie Chaachou, the respondent, in his answer denied the existence of the common law marriage and all allegations of the bill of complaint with reference thereto. It is contended that the respondent accepted the benefits, advantages and pleasures of a common law marriage, publicly and openly, for many years and is now not willing to accept and bear the responsibilities and obligations of such marriage.

The Chancellor made an order appointing a Special Master for the purpose of taking the testimony of the parties upon the issue of "temporary alimony, temporary suit money and temporary counsel fees to be awarded to the plaintiff and for the purposes of filing his recommendations to the Court, both on the facts and the law."

It should be noted that in the order of reference the Chancellor did not sever the *832 issues as to the common law marriage and the issues of temporary alimony, suit money and counsel fees. For all that appears in the order, the Master was appointed for the purpose of taking the testimony upon the issue of alimony, suit money and counsel fees only. Notwithstanding the fact that the order of reference did not sever the issues, the Master's Report contains the following:

"* * * the Master, as well as counsel for the respective parties proceeded in the cause in the light of the rule laid down by our Supreme Court in the case of Fincher v. Fincher, Fla., 55 So.2d 800, * * *."

In the case of Fincher v. Fincher, Fla., 55 So.2d 800, 803, the opinion, after holding that respondent failed to allege or prove a prima facie marriage contract, stated that the Court felt it advisable to outline to the Bench and Bar the procedure which should be followed when a complaint alleging a common law marriage, and seeking alimony and attorneys' fees pendente lite, was denied by the defendant. The advice given was not necessary for a determination of the issues presented in the Fincher case. In that case the hearing was had before the Chancellor. The Chancellor made an order that the plaintiff had proven a prima facie case of the existence of a valid marriage. The Court stated that it appeared from the record that the Chancellor had severed the issues and the opinion, then stated, "The Chancellor should sever the issues and before hearing the plaintiff on her application for alimony and attorneys' fees pendente lite should determine conclusively whether a common-law marriage actually exists." In the same opinion, the Court stated that a wife, in the divorce suit, should "at least make a prima facie showing of the existence of the marriage relationship before being heard on her application for temporary alimony and attorneys' fees." In a concluding paragraph the Court said:

"Nothing said herein shall be taken as abrogating or modifying the time honored rule that when a prima facie case has been established the burden of proof thereafter shifts to the defendant."

In the present case the Chancellor did not sever the issues and so far as the order of the Chancellor was concerned, the Master was vested with authority to take the testimony of the parties only upon the issues of whether temporary alimony, suit money and counsel fees be awarded to the plaintiff, and for the purpose of filing his recommendations to the Court with reference thereto.

The order did not authorize the Master to determine conclusively whether a common law marriage actually exists. He was required under our previous rulings to determine whether or not a prima facie showing of such a marriage existed as a basis for any recommendation with reference to alimony and attorneys' fees.

It appears that forty-seven witnesses testified before the Master in this case and in addition thereto, there were several written depositions, all of which constituted in excess of two thousand pages of testimony. In excess of one hundred exhibits were filed and an additional fifty exhibits were marked for identification.

It appears that the petitioner was about forty-six years of age and was born in the City of Hodgen in Turkey. The respondent was born in the City of Bagdad in Iraq, of Jewish parents. Each party has been naturalized as an American citizen. They had known each other since 1935, when the then-husband of the petitioner had a business in Atlanta, Georgia. The acquaintanceship began as a business relationship, whereby the petitioner and her then-husband bought rugs for retail sale from the respondent who was conducting a wholesale and importing Imperial Persian and Chinese rug company in the City of New York. After an accident, in 1941 near Folkston, Georgia, in which the respondent was seriously injured, the relationship between the parties became closer when the petitioner rendered considerable assistance to the respondent while he was *833 in a hospital in Folkston, Georgia and in Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. The result of this acquaintanceship was that the respondent induced the petitioner to go to Miami Beach and manage a large hotel which he bought. The relationship continued on the most friendly and intimate terms until sometime in December, 1944. Prior to December in 1944 the petitioner was divorced from her first husband.

When petitioner left Atlanta and came to Miami in 1942 she assumed the name of Phillips and was known by that name to her friends and acquaintances until December of 1944. During that period of time she resided at the Savoy Plaza Hotel in Apartment 322, which had been reserved for her. The Master found that this apartment served as a home for both the petitioner and the respondent, during the time that they were in Miami Beach from 1942 to December, 1944.

In the Spring of 1944 the respondent purchased a home at 5041 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida. The petitioner alleged the marriage took place in this home in December, 1944. From the time of the purchase of this home until the time of the alleged marriage, the petitioner testified that she purchased various and sundry furnishings and fixtures for the property and did a good deal of re-decorating and furnishing under instructions from the respondent; that he purchased it for their home and wanted her to fix it up to suit her taste, which she did.

During this period of time the respondent was in New York but he returned to Miami Beach in December 1944, before Christmas. The Master concluded this date to be between the 10th and 25th of December. Petitioner testified that respondent called her from New York and left word with one of the clerks at the hotel that he was coming to Miami and wanted the petitioner to meet him at the station. She did meet him at the station and drove to another hotel, which had been acquired by the respondent, so that he could inspect it, and from there went to 5041 Collins Avenue where, petitioner testified, the marriage took place.

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Bluebook (online)
73 So. 2d 830, 1954 Fla. LEXIS 1731, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chaachou-v-chaachou-fla-1954.