In Re Estate of Watson
In Re Estate of Watson
Opinion of the Court
The question presented to us by this appeal is
The facts in the case are neither complicated nor in dispute. Robert and Jacqueline Watson were married on August 20, 1950. On July 29, 1981, Mrs. Watson filed in the district court for Adams County, Nebraska, a petition for dissolution of her marriage to Mr. Watson. No responsive pleading of any type was filed by Mr. Watson. On January 29, 1982, the district court took the matter under advisement, and on March 2, 1982, entered a decree dissolving the marriage of the parties and dividing the property. On July 7, 1982, less than 6 months after the entry of the decree by the district court and before the decree became final, Mrs. Watson, then a resident of Adams County, Nebraska, died. She was survived by her four children and Mr. Watson.
All of the parties agree that prior to the adoption of the Nebraska Probate Code, and in particular § 30-2353, the death of Mrs. Watson during the 6-month period following the entry of the decree of divorce would have resulted in the decree being considered a nullity and Mr. Watson being considered the surviving spouse of Mrs. Watson. In Parker v. Comstock, 177 Neb. 197, 200, 128 N.W.2d 696, 699 (1964), we examined just such a situation and said:
*307 Plaintiff is still the surviving husband of the deceased. Section 42-340, R.R.S. 1943, provides that a decree of divorce shall not become final or operative until 6 months after trial and decision, except for the purpose of review by appeal. The divorce herein had never become final because the deceased died within the 6-month period. As we said in Williams v. Williams, 146 Neb. 383, 19 N.W.2d 630: “When the marriage relation is extinguished by death prior to the time when the decree can go into effect, then the subject matter is gone, and the parties can never be divorced by operation of law.”
We further said in Parker at 204, 128 N.W.2d at 700-01:
“During the entire pendency of that decree, the marital relation continues. The decree cannot, under the law, take effect and dissolve the marriage until at the expiration of the six months’ period. In order that a marriage status be dissolved by decree of divorce, such status obviously must exist at the time of the taking effect of the decree. When the marriage relation is extinguished by death prior to the time when the decree can go into effect, then the subject-matter, upon which the decree would otherwise have operated, is gone, and the parties to the suit manifestly can never be divorced by operation of law. ...”
The children of Jacqueline Watson, however, argue that the adoption of Nebraska Probate Code § 30-2353 has changed the law in Nebraska with regard to the effect of death during the 6-month period. We do not agree. The Nebraska Probate Code is, to a large extent, modeled after the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Had the Legislature adopted the UPC as drafted by the commissioners, then the argument made by the
(a) A person who is divorced from the decedent or whose marriage to the decedent has been annulled is not a surviving spouse unless, by virtue of a subsequent marriage, he is married to the decedent at the time of death. A decree of separation which does not terminate the status of husband and wife is not a divorce for purposes of this section.
Unif. Probate Code § 2-802, 8 U.L.A. 170 (1983).
The Legislature, however, in adopting § 30-2353(a) chose not to adopt the language of the UPC and, instead, modified it:
(a) An individual who is divorced from the decedent or whose marriage to the decedent has been dissolved or annulled by a decree that has become final is not a surviving spouse unless, by virtue of a subsequent marriage, he is married to the decedent at the time of death.
(Emphasis supplied.) Specifically, the Legislature sought to insert the words “that has become final” into the language proposed by the UPC. Both the Nebraska Comments to § 30-2353 and the working papers of the Judiciary Committee make it clear that the purpose of inserting the words “that has become final” is to bring about just the opposite result that would have existed but for the insertion of that phrase. The Nebraska Comment reads as follows: “A Nebraska decree dissolving a marriage becomes operative for succession and other testamentary purposes only at the expiration of the six month waiting period under section 42-372.” The Comment also refers to paragraph (b), which we will discuss in a moment. In addition, the working papers explain the purpose of paragraph (a). They provide:
Section 75(a) has been drafted so as to clearly conform with present Nebraska law. The term “dissolution” has been added in accordance with the no fault divorce language. Section*309 75(a) adds to the Official Text of the UPC “by a decree that has become final” to clarify that the decree becomes operative for succession and other testamentary purposes only at the expiration of the six month waiting period.
Working Papers and Preliminary Interim Study Report on a revised Nebraska Probate Code 117 (1973). It appears to us that the language of § 30-2353(a) is clear, and therefore it is unnecessary of interpretation. It provides that unless the 6-month period has expired, making the decree final, a divorce does not preclude the former spouse from being the surviving spouse under the Nebraska Probate Code.
The heirs of Jacqueline Watson argue, however, that § 30-2353(a) has no application to the instant case because, they allege, it applies only in those cases where the decree has already become final. Instead, they argue that § 30-2353(b)(3) is applicable. We believe that such is not the case. Section 30-2353(b) provides:
(b) For purposes of parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this article and of section 30-2412, a surviving spouse does not include:
(1) an individual who obtains or consents to a final decree or judgment of divorce from the decedent or an annulment or dissolution of their marriage, which decree or judgment is not recognized as valid in this state, unless they subsequently participate in a marriage ceremony purporting to marry each to the other, or subsequently live together as man and wife;
(2) an individual who, following a decree or judgment of divorce or annulment or dissolution of marriage obtained by the decedent, participates in a marriage ceremony with a third individual; or
(3) an individual who was a party to a valid proceeding concluded by an order purporting to terminate all marital property rights against the decedent.
We believe that an examination of both the Nebraska Comment and the working papers of the Judiciary Committee explains the purpose of subsection (b). The Nebraska Comment says: “Paragraph (b) changes previous decisional law,” and then cites us to the cases of Yost v. Yost, 161 Neb. 164, 72 N.W.2d 689 (1955), Lippincott v. Lippincott, 141 Neb. 186, 3 N.W.2d 207 (1942), and Bassett v. First Nat. Bank & Trust Co., 189 Neb. 206, 201 N.W.2d 848 (1972). Additionally, the working papers provide:
Section 75(b) should be taken to represent a sub*311 stantial departure from present Nebraska law. In the absence of a valid divorce decree entitled to be recognized in the State of Nebraska, Nebraska law would treat the parties as still married for purposes of intestate succession and testamentary dispositions. . . . Section 71(b) [sic] is an attempt to deal with attacks on foreign divorce decrees by creating an estoppel where the surviving spouse has (1) consented to the foreign decree, (2) married a third party after the entry of the foreign decree, or (3) been a party to a valid proceeding concluded by an order purporting to terminate all marital property rights.
Working Papers and Preliminary Interim Study Report, supra at 117-18. The comments contained in the working papers make it clear that the Legislature recognized that subsection (b) was addressed to the matter of collateral attack, and the cases cited support that concern.
The Yost case involved a situation where one of the parties had obtained a divorce in a foreign jurisdiction and the former spouse sought to bring an independent divorce action in Nebraska, attacking the foreign divorce on the grounds that at the time the foreign divorce was granted the party who had obtained the divorce was not a bona fide resident of Florida. In refusing to recognize the Florida decree, this court in Yost, supra at 169, 72 N.W.2d at 693, said: “ ‘A divorce from the bonds of matrimony obtained in another jurisdiction shall be of no force or effect in this state, if both parties to the marriage were domiciled in this state at the time the proceeding for the divorce was commenced.’ ” Subsection (b)(1) of § 30-2353 is intended to prevent by statute such an attack from being made and thereby permitting one of the parties to the decree to have a divorce set aside after a foreign decree has been entered, on the ground of its alleged invalidity.
In the Lippincott case we have a situation where more than 6 months had expired. While the Bassett
The heirs of Jacqueline Watson further direct our attention to the case of Prudential Ins. Co. of America v. Dulek, 665 F.2d 217 (8th Cir. 1981), wherein the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit purported to decide how this court would interpret § 30-2353 were we called upon to do so. Our review of the opinion simply leads us to the conclusion that the court of appeals was in error and that the opinion is not correct under Nebraska state law. The court of appeals relied, to a large extent, upon language to the effect that § 30-2353(b) was designed to change the prior case law of Nebraska. That prior case law, however, was with regard to the right to collaterally attack a divorce decree which, on its face, appears to be valid, and not the effect of death during the 6-month period. That is not the same situation as presented to us in this case.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
The clear and unambiguous language of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2353(b)(3) (Reissue 1979) provides that where there has been a valid court proceeding concluded by an order purporting to terminate all marital property rights, a party governed by such an order cannot be deemed a “surviving spouse.” A reading of this plain language leads to the inescapable conclusion that where, as in the present case, a husband has been a party to such an order, he cannot receive another share of his wife’s estate as a “surviving spouse.” The eighth circuit reached this conclusion in applying § 30-2353 in Prudential Ins. Co. of America v. Dulek, 665 F.2d 217 (8th Cir. 1981).
The majority relies heavily on the draftsman’s comments to § 30-2353 in reaching its decision. When the language of a statute is plain and unambiguous, as it is in the statute involved herein, no resort may be had to legislative history to explain such terms. In O’Neill Production Credit Assn. v. Schnoor, 208 Neb. 105, 108, 302 N.W.2d 376, 378 (1981), we said: “ ‘[A] statute should be construed so that an ordinary person reading it would get from it the usual
In County of Douglas v. Board of Regents, 210 Neb. 573, 577-78, 316 N.W.2d 62, 65 (1982), we said:
“A statute is not to be read as if open to construction as a matter of course. Where the words of a statute are plain, direct, and unambiguous, no interpretation is needed to ascertain the meaning. ... It is not within the province of a court to read a meaning into a statute that is not warranted by the legislative language. Neither is it within the province of a court to read anything plain, direct, and unambiguous out of a statute.”
We noted in Norden Laboratories, Inc. v. County Board of Equalization, 189 Neb. 437, 440, 203 N.W.2d 152, 154 (1973), that legislative history cannot serve to “ ‘ “import an intent into legislation devoid of language fit to express it.” ’ ” In the present case there is no language in the unambiguous exception listed in § 30-2353(b)(3) which would lead one to the conclusion that its application is as limited as concluded by the majority.
It is apparent from the plain language of the statute that the exception embodied in § 30-2353 was designed to prevent a spouse who had received a share of the marital estate through a court order from receiving another share of that estate due to the untimely death of a “soon to be” former spouse. This was mischief the statute was clearly designed to prevent, and it should be applied as it was written.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In Re Estate of Jacqueline Watson, Deceased. Robert Watson, Appellant, v. Dau’n M. Watson, Personal Representative, Appellee
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published