Dorian v. Dorian

1924 OK 69, 222 P. 676, 101 Okla. 9, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 4
Supreme Court of Oklahoma·Decided January 22, 1924·No. No.12058·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

COCHRAN, J.

'This defendant' in error, 'as plaintiff below, instituted this action for the partition of certain lands situated in Garfield county, alleging that she and one Stephen Dorian were''married-' in 1891, and that Stephen Dorian died' August' ' 8, 1917, leaving surviving him as 'his - ¡sole heirs the defendant in error, Mary Dorián, and the plaintiffs in error, who are brothers and sisters of Stephen .Doriqn. ..The defendants filed an apswér adniittjpg. that Mary Dorian and Stephen .Dorian..'were married in 1891, and that Stephéñ'"Dorián died intestate- August 8, 1917, but 'alleging that, at the time of the death of: Stephen Dorian, the said Mary Dorian was nob the wife of Stephen Dorian, for the reason that Stephen Dorian had procured a decree of divorce from Mary Dorian on November 26, 1913. A copy of the decree of divorcé was attached to the answer. The plaintiff filed a reply, alleging that the decree of divorce was void; because the same was. entered in a case' lin which service was procured by publication and the service by publication .was so defective as to render the judgment void. The defendants filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, which was overruled, and defendants having elected to stand on the motion, judgment was rendered for the plaintiff. The defendants *10 appealed from the order overruling the motion for judgment on the pleadings.

The affidavit for service by publication in the divorce case alleged that Mary ■Dorian, the defendant, was a nonresident of the state of Oklahoma, that she was not within the state of Oklahoma, and could not be found within the state of Oklahoma, and that the plaintiff could not with due diligence obtain personal service of the summons on the defendant within the state of Oklahoma. Section 5613, Comp. Laws 1909, which is the controlling statute, .provides :

“Before service can be made by publication. an affidavit’ must be filed stating that the plaintiff, with due diligence, is unable to make service of the summons upon the defendant or defendants to be served by publication, and showing that the case is one of those mentioned in the preceding section.”

The plaintiff contends that the allegation contained in the affidavit, to wit, that the plaintiff cannot with 'due diligence obtain personal service of summons upon the defendant within the state of Oklahoma, is not a compliance with the above provision of the statute, and is not equivalent to saying that the plaintiff with due diligence is unable to make service of the summons- upon the defendant. We are of the opinion that the statement, taken with the other allegations in the affidavit, to wit, that the defendant was a nonresident of the state, and could not be found within the state, and was not at that time within the state of Oklahoma, substantially complies with the statutory provision. Ballew v. Young, 24 Okla. 182, 103 Pac. 623; Morgan v. Stevens, 101 Okla. —, 223 Pac. 365.

It is next contended that the affidavit is fatally defective because it contains the following statement:

“* * * And as affiant is informed and believes, resides in the city of Chicago, state of Illinois. * * *”

The defendant in error contends that the phrase just quoted, in connection with the other allegations of the affidavit, is such as to make the entire affidavit one on information and belief, and the case of Cordray v. Cordray, 19 Okla. 36, 91 Pac. 781, is relied on. The conclusion that the affidavit was insufficient in the Cordray Case was based on the insufficiency of other allegations of the affidavit, and it was not held that the allegation complained of would have been fatal if allegations similar to those in the instant case had been made, in the instant case the allegations of the affidavit as to the nonresidence of the defendant, and that she was not at that time within the state, and that a service of summons could not be had upon her in the state, were positive statements of fact and were not upon information and belief.

It is next insisted that the affidavit in this case was insufficient because the same was made before the suit was filed in the district court. It appears that the affidavit was made on September 30th, and the suit was not filed until October 2nd, on which date the affidavit was filed in the case. The statute provides that the affidavit must be filed before service can be made by publication, and that was done in this ease. There is nothing in the statute requiring the affidavit to be made after the suit has been filed. In Crombie v. Little (Minn.) 50 N. W. 823, the court said:

“Another objection to the affidavit is that it was void because entitled in a cause not yet commenced. There are undoubtedly decisions which go to this length but they are. in our judgment, devoid of reason, and based upon a frivolous technicality. We do not suppose there was ever an affidavit made in this state for a replevin, garnishment, attachment, or publication of a summons that was not thus entitled, al’tfhougk, strictly speaking, the action was not yet commenced when the affidavit was sworn to. Jf-ven at common law it was, at most, a mere irregularity which, in the language of the court in Clarke v. Cawthorne, 7 Term R. 321, ‘does not interfere with the justice of the case,’ A prosecution for perjury based on such an affidavit would lie. Bank v. Lumley, 28 How. Pr. 339.”

In Galium v. Weil (Wis.) 92 N. W. 1091, the court said:

“We find nothing in the case to which counsel refer, calling for a decision that such an affidavit, made one day before the application for an order for service by publication, is, as a matter of law. insufficient therefor.”

It is our opinion that the service by publication was not void by reason of the affidavit having been made two days prior to the filing of the suit.

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Dorian v. Dorian, 1924 OK 69, 222 P. 676, 101 Okla. 9, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 4 (Okla. 1924).

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