Estate of McNutt

98 P.2d 253, 36 Cal. App. 2d 542, 1940 Cal. App. LEXIS 752
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 12, 1940
DocketCiv. 12290; Civ. 12291
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 98 P.2d 253 (Estate of McNutt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Estate of McNutt, 98 P.2d 253, 36 Cal. App. 2d 542, 1940 Cal. App. LEXIS 752 (Cal. Ct. App. 1940).

Opinions

MOORE, P. J.

William Slavens McNutt departed this life January 25, 1938, leaving two women, each claiming widowhood by reason of his death. He was married to Georgia Mc-Nutt, the plaintiff, August 6, 1907, and abode with her until after his infatuation with Louise Glorius, defendant, in 1924, when he abandoned plaintiff. In 1926, while plaintiff was destitute and broken in health, under decedent’s duress and upon his fraudulent representations that he would do nothing for her if she consulted her own lawyer, and solely by reason thereof and because of her dire need, she signed a writing whereby decedent agreed to pay her $50 per week. In 1927, while residing and being actually within the State of New York, decedent procured a decree of divorce from a court at Hermosillo, State of Sonora, Mexico, and promptly pretended to celebrate a marriage with defendant. He lived with her until his dissolution.

Upon the passing of decedent, defendant petitioned for letters of administration of his estate, alleging that she was the widow. Thirteen days later, plaintiff filed her petition in the same proceeding alleging her long coverture, the invalidity of the property settlement by reason of said fraud and duress, and the nullity of said Sonora decree because of want of the court’s jurisdiction in that decedent never established residence in said Mexican state. Because of these facts, plaintiff asserted her right to administer the estate and to possess it all by reason of decedent’s intestacy. Subsequently, basing her cause upon said duress and fraud of decedent and the asserted nullity of said divorce decree, plaintiff filed a civil [546]*546action for the recovery of: (1) $7,900, the proceeds collected by defendant on a life insurance policy purchased by decedent with community funds; (2) a certain yacht given defendant by decedent; and (3) all other movables given or delivered and all moneys paid to defendant by decedent in excess of the household necessities of decedent and defendant. The actions were consolidated for trial, which resulted in findings in accordance with plaintiff’s allegations in both cases and in two separate judgments from which these appeals are taken.

In addition to the findings above indicated, the court determined also that defendant procured a divorce in the State of Nevada from Leo V. Glorius, while she was a resident of the State of New'York; that all gifts to defendant by decedent were paid out of community moneys; and that plaintiff was ignorant of decedent’s wealth and income at the time of said settlement.

From the facts as found, the court decided that the Nevada and Sonora divorce decrees were void; that decedent’s marriage to defendant was void; that plaintiff was decedent’s lawful wife at the time of his death; that plaintiff is entitled to recover said $7,900; and that plaintiff is the lawful owner and entitled to the possession of said yacht and all other movable property and moneys delivered and paid to defendant by the decedent.

Defendant relies for a reversal upon the following: (I) That the plaintiff was estopped from asserting the invalidity of her divorce from, and the property settlement with, decedent; (II) that the validity of the property settlement was not properly at issue; (III) that the court erred in declaring void the gifts made to the defendant in toto-, and (IV) that the court erred in refusing testimony as to the relations existing between plaintiff and decedent and his brother from the date of the settlement to the date of decedent’s death.

I. There is no doubt that the Sonora decree of divorce was void. It is held in New York that “the basic principle underlying the entire subject is that only one sovereignty possesses jurisdiction over the marital status, and that is the one in which the matrimonial domicile exists”, etc. (In re Shuff’s Estate, 151 Misc. 754 [272 N. Y. Supp. 418].) In California it is held that “domicile is necessary to give a court jurisdiction in an action for divorce . . . and a state cannot exercise through its courts jurisdiction to dissolve a [547]*547marriage where neither spouse is domiciled within the state ... To hold that the courts of Mexico ever acquired jurisdiction to render the decree presented by appellant would be a travesty on justice. ...” (Ryder v. Ryder, 2 Cal. App. (2d) 426 [37 Pac. (2d) 1069] ; People v. Harlow, 9 Cal. App. (2d) 643 [50 Pac. (2d) 1052].)

Since a divorce proceeding is an action in rem and both parties and the state have an interest in the res, the Mexican decree obtained by the decedent was properly impeached because of lack of jurisdiction. Nothing could be done to confer jurisdiction upon the Sonora court except to reside within that Mexican state. The plaintiff here, who was defendant there, was powerless even by written stipulation to confer jurisdiction upon the foreign court. (Kegley v. Kegley, 16 Cal. App. (2d) 216 [60 Pac. (2d) 482].) If she could not stipulate it by writing, she could not by her subsequent silence retroactively cure the vice of the decree which she was entitled to show in the California courts to defeat an attempt to establish rights based upon such judgment. (Estate of Bruneman, 32 Cal. App. (2d) 606 [90 Pac. (2d) 323].) Since the foreign decree was void for lack of jurisdiction in the court, it was proper to show that fact upon the trial when its validity was asserted against plaintiff’s legal rights. (DuQuesnay v. Henderson, 24 Cal. App. (2d) 11 [74 Pac. (2d) 294].)

The authorities cited by defendant to establish the validity of the Sonora decree are not apropos. In the Bruguiere case (Bruguiere v. Bruguiere, 172 Cal. 199 [155 Pac. 988, Ann. Cas. 1917E, 122]), the court was not concerned with a decree void upon its face. It dealt with a decree which was vicious because of the public policy of California which invalidates a decree when gained by simulated domicile. Also, she had remarried, waiving all claims upon him who had procured an illegal decree. She never questioned the legality of his decree until her subsequent marriage had proved a failure. In the Morehouse case, (Tex. Civ. App.) [111 S. W. (2d) 831], the couple had lived together fifteen years when he obtained a divorce in Texas upon his false affidavit of her nonresidence. The proceedings were strictly in accordance with statutory law. He remarried two years later, in 1924, effected a settlement with plaintiff in 1925. She was estopped because the second wife was an “innocent participant in the second mar[548]*548riage”, because the court had jurisdiction of the res, and because plaintiff had accepted payments under their property settlement for over ten years and she treated “it as valid and acts as an unmarried person in violation of any obligation incident to the former status”. The Texas court had jurisdiction but was imposed upon by the husband’s fraud, of which the wife had actual knowledge. Drummond v. Lynch, (82 Fed. (2d) 806) is not a parallel because (1) the court did have jurisdiction and (2) the wife treated the divorce as valid by her own remarriage. In Dry v. Rice, 147 Va. 331 [137 S. E. 473], the husband sued only after his wife had already divorced him. In Berman v. Thomas, 41 Ariz. 457 [19 Pac. (2d) 685], jurisdiction was not involved. In Hughes v. Leonard, 66 Colo. 500 [181 Pac. 200], the court found neither duress nor fraud. The case of In re Davis, 106 Cal. 453 [39 Pac. 756], raised no question of rights of inheritance by the former wife.

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Bluebook (online)
98 P.2d 253, 36 Cal. App. 2d 542, 1940 Cal. App. LEXIS 752, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/estate-of-mcnutt-calctapp-1940.