Miller v. Miller

34 Pa. D. & C.3d 82, 1984 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 213
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Somerset County
DecidedAugust 2, 1984
Docketno. 146 Civil 1982
StatusPublished

This text of 34 Pa. D. & C.3d 82 (Miller v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Somerset County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Miller, 34 Pa. D. & C.3d 82, 1984 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 213 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1984).

Opinion

COFFROTH, P.J.,

This partition action is here on defendant’s exceptions to the trustee’s (first) report challenging its findings and conclusions on various grounds. The trustee is William R. Carroll, Esq.

The action is for post-divorce partition of real and personal property, and is therefore governed by the Act of 1927 P.L. 884, as amended by Act of 1949 P.L. 1394, 68 P.S. §§501 et seq., also amended by Judicial Code §20002(a) [1092], Koba v. Koba, 41 Somerset L. J. 249, 254 (1981). The 1949 amendment introduced automatic conversion upon divorce of entireties property into tenancy in common, which is applicable only to property acquired by the entireties subsequent to the effective date of that act, as in this case. Keen By Van Kleef v. Keen, 315 Pa. Super. 161, 461 A.2d 846 (1983); Morehead v. Overton, 39 D.&C.2d 595 (1965). The parties were married April 25, 1954, and divorced May 10, 1979.

In accordance with this court’s direction of September 27, 1983, the trustee’s first report deals only with identifying how the various items of property are owned by the parties and thereby determining what property is entireties property and as such subject to the action, and the proposed decree attached to the report makes that determination, to which defendant (former husband) has filed the pending exceptions.

Running through all or most of the exceptions is a challenge to the trustee’s application of a rule that “. . . any property acquired in anticipation or during [84]*84marriage and possessed and used by both spouses is presumed to be held as joint property by the entireties unless contrary evidence of intent is adequately demonstrated”, citing DiFlorido v. DiFlorido, 459 Pa. 641, 331 A.2d 174 (1974), thus placing a burden of proof upon the party challenging entireties ownership, primarily defendant. Since it is acknowledged that the real estate of the parties is held by the entireties, the question of the presumption relates here only to ownership of personal property.

We must agree that the trustee may have stated DiFlorido’s presumption too broadly. As the court there stated (459 Pa. at 651):

“We conclude, therefore, that for the purpose of determining title of household goods and furnishings between husband and wife, the property that has been acquired in anticipation of or during marriage, and which has been possessed and used by both spouses will in the absence of evidence showing otherwise be presumed to be held jointly by the entireties.”

In that case, the contested items consisted only of household goods and furnishings; footnote 6 of the opinion states:

“6. The household goods and furnishings which were involved in the instant case consisted inter alia of furniture, appliances, carpeting and kitchen utensils. For an explanation of the various items that are included in the term ‘household goods and furnishings’ see generally household goods, 19A at Words and Phrases, pages 510-514.”

Accordingly, the court had no occasion to state whether the presumption might also be applicable to personal property other than household items and did not do so. From that omission, it can be concluded that the way is left open to extend the presump[85]*85tion to all types of property “acquired in anticipation of or during marriage”, but it is clear that DiFlorido did not so extend it, and no other judicial decision has done so.

The trustee does not articulate his reasons for extending the DiFlorido presumption beyond household goods and furnishings to other types of property acquired in anticipation of and during marriage; the explanation most likely lies in the fact that DiFlorido’s logic, buttressed by societal and judicial recognition of the modern concept of the “equal marital partnership”, lead almost inexorably to that conclusion.

Before discussing possible extension of DiFlorido beyond marital household goods and furnishings, we should place that decision in historical and present perspective. The following propositions state the historical development and present status of law governing ownership of personalty acquired in anticipation of or during marriage by cohabiting spouses:

(1) At common law, spousal ownership of personal property was based on the “marriage entity concept”. DiFlorido, 648. That concept is explained in note 9 of DiFlorido as follows:

“9. The marriage entity concept refers to the belief that “[b]y marriage the husband and wife are one person in law.” 1 W. Blackstone Commentaries * 442. Since the husband was considered the lord and master of his wife, all personalty acquired by her during marriage belonged to her husband, while that acquired by the husband was solely his. See 102 U. of Pa. 258 (1954) citing 2 F. Pollock and F. Maitland, The History of English Law, 405, 427 (2d ed. 1898) and DuPont v. DuPont, 33 Del.Ch. 571, 574, 98 A.2d 493, 494 (1953).”

[86]*86See also Summary of Pennsylvania Jurisprudence, Domestic Relations §171. The foregoing expresses Pennsylvania law on the subject until 1848.1

(2) The Act of 1848 P.L. 536, 48 P.S. §64, abolished the husband’s special common law rights in the wife’s separate personalty as well as his estate de jure uxoris in the wife’s realty (see footnote 1 supra), but was construed as being inapplicable to the wife’s earnings which continued to be subject to the control of the husband as at common law until 1872. Summary of Pennsylvania Jurisprudence supra, §176.

[87]*87(3) The Act of 1872 P.L. 35, 48 P.S. §34, expressly secured to the wife her earnings free from any legal claim of her husband.2

(4) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the courts retained a rebuttable presumption that the husband owned personal property in the possession of the husband, or in the common possession of husband and wife, including household goods prior to DiFlorido (649-650). PLE, Husband and Wife § 65; Kauffman v. Stenger, 151 Pa. Super. 313, 30 A.2d 239 (1943), farm animals; Dura Seal Products Co., Inc. v. Carver, 186 Pa. Super. 425, 140 A.2d 844 (1958), household goods in possession of husband and wife in home owned by wife, but compare Gumbes Estate, 172 Pa. Super. 59, 62, 92 A.2d 265 (1952). “A wife can overcome this presumption by [88]*88evidence that she paid for or inherited the furniture [or other personalty], or acquired it by gift, or that they jointly paid for it, or by any other evidence sufficient to prove ownership.” King Estate, 387 Pa. 117, 127-128, 126 A.2d 463 (1956); Mulligan Estate, 426 Pa. 374, 376, 232 A.2d 758 (1967). DiFlorido changes the presumption as to household goods and furnishings in the common home in two respects: (a) such personalty is now presumed to be owned jointly by the spouses by the entireties, and (b) the presumption cannot be rebutted by proof of funding alone; “. . .

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

Related

DiFlorido v. DiFlorido
331 A.2d 174 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1975)
Butler v. Butler
347 A.2d 477 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1975)
Yohe v. Yohe
353 A.2d 417 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1976)
George v. George
409 A.2d 1 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)
Simon v. Simon
429 A.2d 1 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1981)
Bacchetta v. Bacchetta
445 A.2d 1194 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1982)
King Estate
126 A.2d 463 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1956)
Hengst v. Hengst
420 A.2d 370 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Gumbes Estate
92 A.2d 265 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1952)
Coyle v. Coyle
422 A.2d 1085 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1980)
Banko v. Malanecki
451 A.2d 1008 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1982)
Beisgen Estate
128 A.2d 52 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1956)
Donaldson Estate
67 A.2d 88 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1949)
Willcox v. Penn Mutual Life Insurance
55 A.2d 521 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1947)
Kauffman v. Stenger
30 A.2d 239 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1942)
Commonwealth ex rel. Herge v. Martin
126 A.2d 711 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1956)
Mulligan Estate
232 A.2d 758 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1967)
Hopkins v. Blanco
320 A.2d 139 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1974)
Dura Seal Products Co. v. Carver
140 A.2d 844 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1958)
Keen v. Keen
461 A.2d 846 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
34 Pa. D. & C.3d 82, 1984 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-miller-pactcomplsomers-1984.