Berry v. Berry
Berry v. Berry
Opinion of the Court
(After stating the foregoing facts.) The first question for decision is whether the decree awarding Mrs. Margaret Berry $25 a month as permanent alimony, so long as she remained unmarried, survived the death of the husband as a charge upon his estate.
It is stated in 17 Am. Jur. 473, § 608: “According to the weight of authority, a decree, granted in connection with an absolute divorce, for the regular periodical payments of alimony to the wife for her maintenance and support is terminated upon the husband’s death, in the absence, at least, of some stipulation in the order which would require payments after his death.” In 27 C. J. S. 999, § 240 (b), it is said: “The right to receive alimony, and the corresponding duty to pay it, being personal, are generally considered as terminating on the death of either of the parties, where no statute to the contrary exists and the judgment or decree is silent on the subject.” However, counsel for the plaintiffs in error, in arguing that the obligation to pay alimony is not a personal one, but a charge upon the husband’s estate, insist that Code §§ 30-201 and 30-218 contain the exhaustive basic law of Georgia on the issue now before the court, and that the law of other States has no bearing thereon.
Code § 30-201 defines alimony as “an allowance out of the husband’s estate, made for the support of the wife when living separate from him.” Code § 30-209 declares: “The jury rendering the final verdict in a divorce suit may provide permanent alimony for the wife, either from the corpus of the- estate or otherwise, according to the condition of the husband.” Under a proper construction of these Code sections, alimony may consist of an allowance out of the husband’s estate, or of a personal obligation to pay stated sums out of his future earnings. If alimony was restricted to an allowance out of a husband’s estate, a man who had no property, but who was able-bodied and capable of earning a salary, could not be required to pay alimony. See, in this connection, Johnson v. Johnson, 131 Ga. 606 (2) (62 S. E. 1044), where a husband contended that he was not liable for permanent alimony because he had no property, and it-was held: “A husband may be decreed to pay permanent alimony,
The plaintiffs in error rely strongly on Code § 30-218, which declares: “After permanent alimony shall be granted, upon the death of the husband the wife shall not be entitled to any further interest in his estate in her right as wife, but such permanent provision shall be continued to her, or a portion of the estate equivalent thereto shall be set apart to her.”
Wise v. Wise, 156 Ga. 459 (2) (119 S. E. 410), contains an exhaustive history of the various sections relating to alimony. While the question there determined was that, where specific property was awarded as alimony, the wife took an absolute title thereto without limitation as to its disposition or enjoyment; yet, in stating the history and effect of the various Code sections, on page 476 it is said that the provisions of § 1699 of the Code of 1863, now Code § 30-218, “refer to the grant of alimony where the marriage relation continues or has not been dissolved by a final verdict of divorce.” We construe this to be a proper interpretation of the application of this section, and hold that it does not apply where a marriage contract has been dissolved by a final verdict for divorce.
This is not a case where an agreement entered into between the parties to pay a lump sum as permanent alimony was made the judgment of the court, or where the jury awarded specific property out of the husband's estate, as to which see Melton v. Hubbard, 135 Ga. 128 (68 S. E. 1101); Wise v. Wise, 156 Ga. 459 (supra); Brown v. Farkas, 195 Ga. 653 (25 S. E. 2d, 411); Roberson v. Roberson, 199 Ga. 627 (4) (34 S. E. 2d, 836); Green v. Starling, 203 Ga. 10 (45 S. E. 2d, 188).
Accordingly, the trial court, in passing upon all questions of law and fact without a jury, was authorized to find that the liability for the monthly payment of permanent alimony, so long as the wife remained unmarried, terminated upon the death of the husband.
The second question for decision is whether the United States Bonds purchased by Doctor Berry during his lifetime, and made payable to himself or two of his sons as co-owners, are
A demurrer was filed by the guardian of Donald W. Berry and Charles D. Berry, on the ground that the petitioner alleges that the bonds now held by defendant as guardian were never delivered to the sons by their father during his lifetime, and that being taken as true, is an admission on the part of the petitioner that the bonds are not advancements, because in order to constitute an advancement there must be a delivery unconditionally by the parent to the child before his death with the intention of making an advancement, and it must be accepted by the child as an advancement during the parent’s life.
The judgment, while overruling the demurrer, contained the statement, “but the question involved, as to whether or not the facts alleged were or were not advancements, is not decided until further proofs are had, at which time the court will consider further argument in connection with the allegations of the petition.” In the circumstances set forth, the only adjudication that became the law of the case was that the demurrer was overruled subject to the right of the trial court, after further proofs and argument, to decide whether the facts alleged constituted advancements.'
Counsel for the plaintiffs in error rely upon the provisions of Code § 113-1013, that “An advancement is any provision made by a parent out of his estate, for and accepted by a child, either in money or property, during his lifetime, over and above the obligation of the parent for maintenance and education.”
“Where money or property is transferred by a parent to his child, and is accepted, the question of whether the transfer is to be treated as an advancement depends upon the intention of the parent at the time of the transaction, without regard to concurrence on the part of the child.” Barron v. Barron, 181 Ga. 505 (2) (182 S. E. 851); Treadwell v. Everett, 185 Ga. 454 (1) (195 S. E. 762); Kaylor v. Kaylor, 199 Ga. 516 (4) (35 S. E. 2d, 1).
The case of Knight v. Wingate, 205 Ga. 133 (52 S. E. 2d, 604) did not involve the question of whether the bonds should be treated as advancements. However, counsel for the administrator in that case, relying upon the law of gifts contained in
It follows that, under the uncontradicted evidence to the effect that Dr. Berry purchased the bonds in carrying out his intention to give each of his sons $5000 in bonds to be used in obtaining a college education, or to set them up in' business, the trial court, in passing upon all questions of law and fact without a jury, was authorized to find that the United States War Savings Bonds, in which the father and two of his sons were named as co-owners, were intended as advancements, and that the sons should be required to account for the same in the distribution of their father’s estate.
Judgment affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. I dissent from the ruling made in the first headnote and corresponding division of the opinion. Code § 30-201 provides: “Alimony is an allowance out of the husband’s estate, made for the support of the wife when living separate from him. It is either temporary or permanent.” By Code § 30-209 it is provided: “The jury rendering the final verdict in a divorce suit may provide permanent alimony for the wife, either from the corpus of the estate or otherwise, according to the condition of the husband,” and § 30-210 is as follows: “Permanent alimony shall be granted in the following cases: 1. In cases of divorce, as considered in Chapter 30-1. 2. In cases of voluntary separation. 3. Where the wife, against her will, shall either be abandoned or driven off by her husband.” Under these Code sections, which must be construed together, alimony allowed to the wife, whether to be paid in monthly instalments, in a lump sum, or in specific property, is a charge against the husband’s estate, and his estate is not relieved from payment thereof merely because the decree provides that the permanent alimony should be paid in monthly instalments. This court has held that a provision for permanent alimony bars the
Nor can I concur in the second division of the opinion, for in my opinion the purchase by the father of the bonds, which were payable to the father or to the sons, but which were never surrendered by the father to the sons during the lifetime of the father, did not constitute “advancements” to the sons within the meaning of the Code § 113-1013, requiring the sons to account therefor in the distribution of the estate of their deceased father. Mr. Justice Almand concurs in this dissent as to the second division of the opinion.
The judgment in this case was affirmed on July 9, 1951. On July 24, 1951, after further consideration of the case on the court’s own motion, the judgment remained affirmed.
Concurring Opinion
concurring specially. Were there an issue here as to the right of the sons to the entire proceeds of the bonds, I would dissent in part to the ruling as to the ownership of the bonds. There being none, I concur specially in so far as the above ruling relates to the question of advancements. I dissented from the ruling in Knight v. Wingate, 205 Ga. 133, though my reason therefor was not stated. It is my opinion that, under the Federal act in question, where bonds are issued jointly to two people, ordinarily it is a joint ownership and should be so considered in'the absence of anything to show otherwise. Under the facts there, which showed
Under the facts in the instant case, I think that whatever interests the sons had in the bonds were received by them as advancements.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BERRY Et Al. v. BERRY, Administratrix, Et Al.
- Cited By
- 26 cases
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- Published