Coffman v. Finney
Coffman v. Finney
Opinion of the Court
The contention of plaintiffs in error, in support of their claim of error, is, that the suit pending in the circuit court being one for alimony, was strictly personal, and upon the death of both the plaintiff and the defendant, the suit abated, and could be revived neither in favor of- the plaintiff nor against the personal representative of the defendant. And the whole- controversy centers about this proposition, Text books, and decisions of courts outside of our state, are cited in support of it, all of which have been examined and considered. But we find little to aid us in the array of cases cited. The question is not what is the law of other jurisdictions, but what is the law of Ohio on the subject.'
The final disposition of the case in the court of common pleas, which divorced the parties, left the plaintiff in the attitude of a feme sole, with an award of alimony in gross, which was, in legal effect a judgment. It was.a money claim, a debt collectible by execution, and operated per se as a lien on all the real estate of the defendant in the county. Moore v. Rittenhouse, 15 Ohio St., 310; Conrad v. Everich, 50 Ohio St., 476. And while 'the trial in the circuit court would be a trial de novo as to the amount of the alimony, yet had the appeal been dismissed the judgment of the common pleas would have been left in full force and the lien of the judgment unimpaired. The effect, therefore, of the appeal was not in any wise to unsettle the decree of divorce, nor to vacate the judgment for alimony, but simply to suspend it. It was founded upon a claim established by the statute. Upon the declaration of divorce by the common pleas for the aggressions of the defendant the law vested the right in the plaintiff to an allowance as alimony from the defendant’s real and personal property.^ This right was an absolute one. “Shall be allowed” is the im
But if there be doubt of the proper answer to the contention of plaintiffs in error when reviewed from the standpoint of principle, it seems quite clear that all doubt vanishes when we give effect to our statute, section 5144. It provides that: “Except as otherwise provided, no action or proceeding pending in any
Complaint is made that the judgment of the circuit court is not justified by the evidence. This court is not concerned with that question. The circuit court was qualified properly to weigh the evidence, and its conclusion in that regard is final.
We are of opinion that the claim of Lucy Gay for alimony, at the time of her decease, was a debt against the defendant, fixed as to the liability, though subject to variation as to amount, and that the cause survived in favor of her administrator and against the administrator of her former husband.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.