Duhme v. Duhme
Duhme v. Duhme
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
In this contested divorce case, the respondent wife has appealed from a decree of absolute divorce granted her husband on the ground of indignities. The case was argued before a master, who recommended the granting of the divorce, respondent’s exceptions to the master’s report were dismissed by the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County, and a decree of divorce was entered.
The parties were married in Charleroi on November 21, 1927, and resided together at various addresses there until August 1942, when libellant left the marital abode. Both parties are German-born, their first meeting having occurred in Hamburg, Germany, as libel-lant was about to embark for the United States. After coming to this country, he advanced money for respondent’s passage here. Several years after the marriage, difficulties developed and relations became more strained with the years, culminating in the separation. Shortly thereafter, respondent obtained a support order against the libellant and he conveyed his interest in their home (which they held as tenants by the entire-ties) to her. One daughter, now a young married woman, was born to the couple. She appeared at the first hearing as a witness for respondent but did not testify.
Libellant charged that although he was a steel worker and required good food, his wife cooked only “every two or three days”, reheating the same food for his meals in the meantime, and that the food became unfit for consumption, as a result of which his health was áffected; that the lunch which she packed for him was
A determination of this appeal depends — as do so many contested divorce cases — upon the credibility of witnesses. Although we are required to consider all the evidence and arrive at our own conclusion thereon (Nacrelli v. Nacrelli, 288 Pa. 1, 136 A. 228) — which we have done — the conclusions of the master, who heard the testimony and saw the witnesses, are entitled to careful consideration on appeal and will not be lightly disturbed. Weber v. Weber, 156 Pa. Superior Ct. 6, 39 A. 2d 144; Porter v. Porter, 161 Pa. Superior Ct. 119, 53 A. 2d 833; Megoulas v. Megoulas, 166 Pa. Superior Ct. 510, 72 A. 2d 598. The master has had the advantage of seeing the parties and hearing the testimony; therefore, the rule that his report, although only advisory and not controlling, is to be given full consideration, particularly as regards the credibility of witnesses, is especially applicable where, as here, the testimony is conflicting. Fullwood v. Fullwood, 156 Pa. Superior Ct. 409, 40 A. 2d 876; Graf v. Graf, 168 Pa. Superior Ct. 66, 76 A. 2d 659.
To support a decree in divorce indignities must consist of a course of conduct which renders the condition of the innocent party intolerable and his or her life burdensome, and they must be shown by evidence from which an inference of settled hate and estrangement may be deduced. Davidsen v. Davidsen, 127 Pa. Superior Ct. 138, 191 A. 619; Monaco v. Monaco, 160 Pa. Superior Ct. 117, 50 A. 2d 520. The burden of proof is upon libellant, and a divorce will not be granted unless the grounds alleged in the libel are clearly
It is in evidence that respondent accused libellant of infidelity not only directly to him in private, but to other people. Mrs. Sphar testified that two days after she and her family moved next door to the Duhmes, respondent “called me to the fence and told me about her husband running after other women and not providing for she and her daughter”. Respondent’s own testimony indicates distrust of her husband’s fidelity, although the record is bare of any substantiation of it and of any effort on her part to prove the truth of her accusations. (Cf. Stauffer v. Stauffer, 154 Pa. Superior Ct. 505, 36 A. 2d 183.) Unfounded accusations of infidelity of a libellant may constitute indignities warranting a decree of divorce. Kimmel v. Kimmel, 160 Pa. Superior Ct. 538, 52 A. 2d 245; Thornton v. Thornton, 168 Pa. Superior Ct. 391, 77 A. 2d 691. As was stated by President Judge Rhodes in Seder v. Seder, 164 Pa. Superior Ct. 372, 64 A. 2d 668, at page 374: “Respondent’s categorical denials of virtually every incident to which libellant and his witnesses testified is not convincing; nor are we impressed with her testimony that her conduct toward libellant on all occasions was exemplary.” In our opinion libellant has met the burden of proof imposed upon him of showing a course of conduct on the part of the respondent which made life burdensome and intolerable for him, and we consider the statement of this Court, speaking through Judge Reno, in Potter v. Potter, 168 Pa. Superior Ct. 402, 78 A. 2d 42, at page 405, peculiarly appropriate to the situation presented by this case: “Undoubtedly plaintiff is not entirely without blame for failure to adjust their marital differences. But his conduct was not such as to justify the indigr nities to which he was subjected, and we find he is
Decree affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.