Nelson v. Nelson

1935 OK 1166, 52 P.2d 786, 175 Okla. 275, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 869
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 26, 1935
DocketNo. 26077.
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 1935 OK 1166 (Nelson v. Nelson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nelson v. Nelson, 1935 OK 1166, 52 P.2d 786, 175 Okla. 275, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 869 (Okla. 1935).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

This action was commenced in the district court of Grady county, Okla., by the defendant in error, Leola D. Nelson, against the plaintiff in error, N. L. Nelson. The parties will be referred to as they appeared in the trial court.

The plaintiff, Leola D. Nelson, filed a sep arate maintenance suit against her husband, N. L. Nelson, on August 5, 1933the defendant, N. L. Nelson, filed answer and cross-petition, seeking absolute decree of divorce and equitable division of the property acquired during the marriage relationship of the plaintiff and defendant. The plaintiff filed an answer to defendant’s cross-petition, asking that defendant’s prayer for a divorce be denied, but that in the event the court should find that the marriage relationship! should be dissolved, she be granted a decree of divorce from the defendant, setting up for her grounds therefor extreme cruelty and gross neglect of duty.

This cause came on for trial on September 13, 1934, and at the conclusion of the evidence judgment and decree was rendered, granting unto the plaintiff a decree of divorce on the grounds of gross neglect of duty and extreme cruelty, and further dividing the property of said plaintiff and said defendant between them, and further decreeing that said defendant should pay certain bills of said plaintiff, and that he should further pay to said plaintiff the sum of $1,000, to be paid in monthly installments of $50 each.

Thereafter, said defendant filed his motion for a new trial asking that said judgment be vacated in so far as the division of property Was concerned for the reason that said division of the property was inequitable, un fair, and unconscionable, and contrary to law and equity. Thereafter, said motion for new trial was overruled and said defendant has completed his appeal to this court, not for the purpose of reversing the decree of divorce, but said appeal being directed strictly to the cause of action involving the division of property belonging to the parties herein.

For the purpose of discussing this appeal, it is necessary that we briefly review the evidence submitted in the trial of this cause. The plaintiff testified that she was the wife of the defendant, Dr. N. L. Ne'son; that she and the doctor were married in Ottumwa, Iowa, in June, 1911; that at the time of their marriage, Dr.' Nelson was working in a grocery store; that prior to their marriage she had been teaching school and he had been working in a gr&cery store; that after their marriage they continued to live in Ottumwa and the doctor continued in the grocery business until April, 1919; that the grocery business was unsuccessful, and at that time it was closed up; that thereafter the doctor entered the school of osteopathy in the fall of 1920 at Kirksvüle, Mo.; that she stayed at Ottumwa and taught school; that from the¡ time of their marriage and during the entire time they resided in Ottumwa, she did substitute work teaching school, and that she taught school during the four years the defendant attended the school of osteopathy; that she started at $1.50 per day and it was increased until she was getting $5 per day and the work increased until she was teaching practically all of the time; that, in the three years she taught steadily while the doe-( tor was in school, she got about $1,250 to $1,300 per year, and that she furnished the largest part of the support of the doctor while he was attending the school of osteopathy for four years; that she used her money for the upkeep and improvement of their home in Ottumwa; that the doctor owned the home prior to their marriage; that the home was disposed of four years after they moved to Chickasha for $3,000; that the doctor gave her $2,000 of the sale price which she had in a savings account in the Citizens Farmers National Bank of Chick-asha, and that he also gave her a $1,000 first mortgage on the house at the time it was sold, which she still held.

She further testified that up to 1926 the doctor gave her money occasionally as he had it, because he was just getting started to practice his profession, and that from the years 1926 until May, 1932, he gave her $100 per month, with which to buy groceries, clothing, and pay the household expenses. She further testified that she had saved about 25 per cent, of this allowance which she had put in a savings account. She testified that in May, 1932, Dr. Nelson checked $3,000 out of their joint account in cash, giving her $1,000 and keeping $2,000; that he left town at that time without any explanation and was gone for 13 weeks. She further testified that the doctor had two automobiles, an Oakland coupe and a Buiek sedan; that several days before she filed her petition in this case, the doctor drew $2,500 from their joint bank account and gave the plaintiff none of it. She further testified that she owned a 50-foot lot in Chickasha worth less than $200. She further testified that there was a joint account of $3,600 in *277 tlie First National Bank of Ohickasha, which bank was in the process of liquidation. There was considerable evidence with reference to her $2,200 savings account and a $1,000 deposit which she had in the First National Bank at Ohickasha, but both of these deposits represented gifts to her and were her own personal savings and property, and in our opinion constituted her separate property.

Dr. Nelson, the defendant in this case, testified that he checked out the $2,500 just before the plaintiff filed this suit, but refused to account for it. He further testified that out of the household furniture, all he wanted was a musical instrument, an old chair, and a tool kit, and that he would also like to have the life insurance policy. He further testified that he had $6,000 or $7,000 worth of accounts receivable, but valued them at on’y $1,000.

The court in its decree of divorce, after finding that the defendant had been guilty of gross neglect of duty and conduct amounting to extreme cruelty and that the plaintiff was entitled to a decree of divorce, and further finding that subsequent to the marriage of the plaintiff and defendant, the defendant, was assisted through a school of osteopathy by the plaintiff, and that the defendant was at the time of the decree of divorce an able-bodied man possessed of professional ability and capable of substantial earnings, makes the following finding with reference to the distribution of the property:

“The court further finds that the following property should be decreed to the plaintiff as her sole and exclusive property: Approximately $2,200 on deposit in the Citizens-Farmers National Bank in Ohickasha, Okla., in the name of said plaintiff; moneys in the First National Bank of Ohickasha, approximately $3,600 to the joint account of plaintiff and defendant, and $1,000 in the name of the p'iaintdff; approximately $150 in the Bank at Ottumwa, Iowa; mortgage in the sum of $1,000 held on former home in Ot-tumwa, Iowa; $300 in government bonds; all household and kitchen furniture in the apartment used and occupied by the plaintiff and the defendant; one Oakland coupe automobile ; one lot in Ohickasha, Okla., described as follows : North 50 feet lot four (4), block fourteen (14), Scott Jones addition to the city of Ohickasha, Okla., and oil and gas royalty described as follows: 1/32 interest in gas, oil and other minerals in and under S. % S. W. % N. W. % and N. y2 S. W. % section 36, twp. 5 N., range 7 west, Grady county, Okla.

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

Related

Honeywell v. Honeywell
1959 OK 163 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1959)
Smith v. Smith
1957 OK 93 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1957)
West v. West
1954 OK 84 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1954)
Brannon v. Brannon
1952 OK 339 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1952)
Noel v. Noel
1952 OK 43 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1952)
Marcus v. Marcus
1950 OK 33 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1950)
Jupe v. Jupe
1947 OK 2 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1947)
Chastain v. Chastain
1946 OK 156 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1946)
Jacks v. Jacks
1945 OK 147 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1945)
Turlington v. Turlington
1944 OK 15 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1944)
Kupka v. Kupka
1942 OK 137 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1942)
Bowen v. Bowen
1938 OK 105 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1938)
Carter v. Carter
1937 OK 639 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1937)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1935 OK 1166, 52 P.2d 786, 175 Okla. 275, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 869, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nelson-v-nelson-okla-1935.