Commonwealth v. Case
Commonwealth v. Case
Concurring in Part
Opinion by
Concurring in Part and Dissenting in Part :
I concur with this court’s conclusion that an order for the support of the defendant’s wife was properly made for the reasons set forth in Judge Monroe’s scholarly opinion, but I think under the circumstances the amount of the order was exorbitant.
Orders for the support of a wife are limited to one-third of the husband’s income or earning power. This is the maximum allowed to the most worthy wife — one who has spent her life sacrificing to help an ungrateful husband accumulate his capital, develop his earning capacity and rear his children only to be cast aside when she has become needy, ill and old.
The defendant’s income tax return shows gross income of $25,983 in the last reported year. He pays his first wife $7200 a year under an agreement entered into with the relatrix’s knowledge, and undoubtedly with her consent and for a purpose which she then thought was for her benefit. (The defendant paid both his wife and the relatrix’s husband, who thereupon entered no objections to the fraudulently obtained divorce.) The trial judge concluded that the defendant had income in excess of the amount he returned for income tax purposes, and set his gross income at $34,-823 and his net income, after taxes and the payments to his first wife, at $19,123.
A sound argument might be made that the order exceeds one-third of the defendant’s earning capacity,
Assuming half of the payment on the mortgage and taxes on the real estate held by entireties, and in which the wife resides, inures to the defendant’s benefit, the relatrix is receiving $7260 a year.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
The order of the court below is affirmed on the opinion of Judge Monroe of the Court of Quarter Sessions of Bucks County, as reported in 29 Pa. D. & C. 2d 405.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Commonwealth v. Case, Appellant
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published