Taylor v. Taylor

8 Pa. D. & C.4th 277, 1990 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 81
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Monroe County
DecidedDecember 12, 1990
Docketno. 1975 Civil of 1986
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 8 Pa. D. & C.4th 277 (Taylor v. Taylor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Monroe County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Taylor, 8 Pa. D. & C.4th 277, 1990 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 81 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1990).

Opinion

O’BRIEN, J.,

Plaintiff, James A. Taylor, and defendant, Carol A. Taylor, were married on April 14, 1965. Plaintiff husband filed a complaint on September 2, 1986 seeking a divorce on grounds of either irretrievable breakdown of the marriage or indignities to the person. Following two evidentiary hearings, a special master appointed by the court filed a report on September 21, 1987 recommending a divorce on the ground of indignities and equitable distribution of marital property. Neither party filed exceptions to the master’s recommendation and on October 13, 1987 this court entered a decree of divorce incorporating the master’s recommendations with respect to equitable distribution. No appeal was filed from that decree, by either party.

The equitable distribution decreed by the court provided for the division of jointly owned real property in Stroud Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. Defendant wife received 1.77 acres which included thereon the marital domicile, swimming pool and outbuildings. Plaintiff husband received the remaining unimproved acreage. On June 26, 1990, upon petition of plaintiff, this court issued a rule to show cause upon defendant why she should not execute the deeds to carry out the equitable distribution of the marital realty. On August 7, 1990, in the absence of a timely answer by defendant, the rule was made absolute. On August 13, 1990, defendant wife filed a petition requesting the court to vacate the divorce decree, to which plaintiff filed a timely answer. Plaintiff husband countered by filing a petition requesting the court to hold defendant [279]*279wife in contempt for failure to comply with the order of August 7, 1990. All issues were joined for argument and following the submission of briefs and oral argument the matter is now before the court for disposition.

The Divorce Code provides in pertinent part as follows:

“A motion to open a decree of divorce or annulment may be made only within 30 days after entry of the decree and not thereafter. Such motion may lie where it is alleged that the decree was procured by intrinsic fraud or that there is new evidence relating to the cause of action which will sustain the attack upon its validity. A motion to vacate a decree or strike a judgment alleged to be void because of extrinsic fraud, lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter or because of a fatal defect apparent upon the face of the record, must be made within five years after entry of the final decree. Intrinsic fraud is such as relates to a matter adjudicated by the judgment, including peijury and false testimony, whereas extrinsic fraud relates to matters collateral to the judgment which have the consequence of precluding a fair hearing or presentation of one side of the case.” 23 Pa.C.S. §602.

Since three years have elapsed since the entry of the divorce decree, our authority to vacate the divorce decree is limited to proof of extrinsic fraud. Thus we must determine the precise meaning of extrinsic fraud as set forth in the statute and examine the record to determine if defendant wife has sustained her burden of demonstrating that she was the victim of extrinsic fraud by plaintiff husband.

The distinction between extrinsic fraud and intrinsic fraud has been defined by our Superior Court as follows:

[280]*280“By the expression ‘extrinsic or Collateral fraud’ is meant some act or conduct of the prevailing party which has prevented a fair submission of the controversy. Among these are the keeping of the defeated party away from court by false promise of compromise, or fraudulently keeping him in ignorance of the action. Another instance is where an attorney without authority pretends to represent a party and corruptly connives at his defeat, or where an attorney has been regularly employed and corruptly sells out his client’s interest. The fraud in such case is extrinsic or collateral to the question determined by the court. The reason for the rule is that there must be an end to litigation; and, where a party has had his day in court and knows what the issues are, he must be prepared to meet and expose perjury then and there: Pico v. Cohn, 91 Cal. 129, [25 P. 970]. Where the alleged perjury relates to a question upon which there was a conflict, and it was necessary for the court to determine the truth or falsity of the testimony, the fraud is intrinsic and is concluded by the judgment, unless there be a showing that the jurisdiction of the court has been imposed upon, or that by some fraudulent act of the prevailing party the other has been deprived of an opportunity for a fair trial.” Fenstermaker v. Fenstermaker, 348 Pa. Super. 237, 502 A.2d 185 (1985), quoting McEvoy v. Quaker City Cab Co., 267 Pa. 527, 110 Atl. 366 (1920).

Generally, judgments regularly entered in adverse proceedings cannot be opened or vacated after they have become final, unless there has been fraud or some other circumstance “so grave or compelling as to constitute ‘extraordinary cause’ justifying intervention by the court.” Simpson v. Allstate Insurance Co., 350 Pa. Super. 239, 504 A.2d 335 (1986); Klugman v. Gimbel Brothers Inc., 198 Pa. Super. [281]*281268, 182 A.2d 223 (1962). Therefore, our appellate courts have taken a narrow view of what constitutes “extrinsic fraud” in order to avoid unjustifiable disturbance of divorce decrees. In Foley v. Foley, 392 Pa. Super.9, 572 A.2d 6 (1990), our Superior Court held that the actions of the husband in intimidating the wife to the extent that she accepted less than one percent of the marital property in a property settlement agreement established the existence of extrinsic fraud. In Fenstermaker, supra, the court found extrinsic fraud where husband refused to complete settlement negotiations he had expressly promised to continue, and therefore had kept wife away from court by a promise of a false compromise.

In support of her claim of fraud, counsel for defendant wife cites three Pennsylvania cases. In Roach v. Roach, 275 Pa. Super. 320, 418 A.2d 742 (1980), the court vacated a divorce decree where neither the wife nor any attorney on her behalf had received notice of the hearing. In Duessing v. Duessing, 224 Pa. Super. 525, 307 A.2d 382 (1973), the court reversed a decree in divorce and remanded the action for further proceedings before the master where the defendant’s failure to appear before the master was the result of counsel’s oversight. Finally, in Teriberry v. Teriberry, 210 Pa. Super. 521, 232 A.2d 201 (1967) the court granted the opening of the decree where wife was unrepresented by counsel at the master’s hearing and was clearly under the impression there would be another hearing date prior to the entry of a final decree. In the case at bar, the record shows that the plaintiff had notice of the hearing, was represented by counsel throughout the proceeding, and engaged in further consultation with her lawyer after the master’s report was filed.

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Bluebook (online)
8 Pa. D. & C.4th 277, 1990 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 81, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-taylor-pactcomplmonroe-1990.