Doern v. Crawford

140 N.W.2d 193, 30 Wis. 2d 206, 1966 Wisc. LEXIS 1044
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 1, 1966
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 140 N.W.2d 193 (Doern v. Crawford) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doern v. Crawford, 140 N.W.2d 193, 30 Wis. 2d 206, 1966 Wisc. LEXIS 1044 (Wis. 1966).

Opinion

Cukrie, C. J.

American Family’s policy issued to Paulson contains the following provisions with respect to the liability coverage under Part I of the policy:

“The following are insureds under Part I:
“ (a) With respect to the owned automobile,
“(1) the named insured and any resident of the same household,
“(2) any other person using such automobile, provided the actual use thereof is with the permission of the named insured;
“ (b) With respect to a non-owned automobile,
“(1) the named insured,
“ (2) any relative, but only with respect to a private passenger automobile or trailer not regularly furnished for the use of such relative; . . .”

The following are the policy definitions of the words “named insured” and “relative” as used in the above-quoted policy provisions:

“ ‘named insured’ means the individual named in Item 1 of the declarations and also includes his spouse, if a resident of the same household;
“ ‘relative’ means a relative of the named insured who is a resident of the same household; . . .”

We deem the sole issue on this appeal to be: Is the question, of whether defendant Crawford was a “relative” of the named insured residing in the same household on the date when the accident occurred within the meaning of the policy, one which can be determined by summary judgment?

*211 We find it unnecessary to determine whether the word “relative” as used in the nonowned vehicle coverage provisions of the policy is restricted to blood relatives, thereby excluding a stepson such as Crawford. This is because Mrs. Paulson is included as a “named insured” if she resided in the same household with Paulson on the date of the accident, and Crawford is her blood relative. Thus the crucial question is whether Paulson on the date of the accident was residing in the same household with his wife and stepson.

This court has dealt with this question of who are members of the same household in cases involving insurance coverage in Raymond v. Century Indemnity Co., 1 Lontkowski v. Ignarski, 2 and National Farmers Union Property & Casualty Co. v. Maca. 3

The issue in Raymond was whether the person operating an automobile insured by defendant insurance company at time of accident was driving it “with the permission of an adult member of such assured’s household.” The insurance policy had been issued to a Mrs. Hasseler. She had a twenty-two-year-old son who was in the armed forces stationed at Camp McCoy. It was he who had granted permission to drive the insured vehicle to the person operating it at the time of accident. The son had lived with his mother at Green Bay prior to his entering the army. This court held that the son’s absence in the army did not destroy his status as an adult member of his mother’s household. 4

*212 The policy of automobile liability insurance before the court in LontJcowski excluded coverage with respect to any car “furnished for regular use to the named insured or a member of his household. . . .” At the time of accident the named insured was not driving the insured vehicle but a car loaned him by his brother. Both brothers were adults residing in the home of their parents. This court, in affirming the trial court’s finding that both were residents of the same household, stated:

“ ‘Household’ is defined by Webster as ‘those who dwell under the same roof and compose a family.’ That definition correspoiids with the common and approved usage of the term and is supported by judicial authority. ‘Persons who dwell together as a family constitute a “household.” ’ Arthur v. Morgan (1884), 112 U. S. 495, 499, 5 Sup. Ct. 241, 243, 28 L. Ed. 825.
“On the evidence in the present record the trial court could properly find that the young men, Donald and Joseph, were dwelling with their parents as a family under one roof, and hence were members of the same household.” 5

The policy of insurance in National Farmers Property & Casualty Co. v. Maca 6 was a liability policy that covered farm accidents subject to the exclusion that coverage was not extended to bodily injury to the named insured and his spouse and “the relatives of either ... if such . . . relative is a resident of the household of the named insured . . . .” The thirty-two-year-old son was injured while doing farmwork on his father’s home approximately five months after he had come to live with his parents. He had accepted a job which he could have retained on a permanent basis, but claimed he was only living with his parents until he could find a better job. This court affirmed the trial court’s granting of a summary judgment on the basis that the son was a member of the father’s household as a matter of *213 law within the wording of the policy. The opinion declared:

“We think that one is not a resident of the household or member of the family if, even though he has no other place of abode, he comes under the family roof for a definite short period or for an indefinite period under such circumstances that an early termination is highly probable. If, however, the circumstances of his stay are otherwise consistent with a family or household relationship, and his stay is likely to be of substantial duration, the fact that he attempts to find employment, gaining which he would live elsewhere, would not, in our opinion, prevent his being a resident of the household or a member of the family.” 7

The holdings of these three cases demonstrate that the controlling test of whether persons are members of a household at a particular time is not solely whether they are then residing together under one roof. Living together under one roof is a factor to be considered and must have occurred at some time. When not occurring at the time in question, the absence from the family roof must be of a temporary nature with intent on the part of the absent person to return thereto. There is a close analogy between the concepts of household and domicile because intent of the person involved plays such a significant part. The one material difference between the two is that a domicile once acquired is not lost when a person leaves it, even though intending never to return, until he establishes a domicile elsewhere. 8

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Bluebook (online)
140 N.W.2d 193, 30 Wis. 2d 206, 1966 Wisc. LEXIS 1044, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doern-v-crawford-wis-1966.