Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, 1943

Sirbaugh v. Sirbaugh

Sirbaugh v. Sirbaugh
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas · Decided March 5, 1943 · Sloane
46 Pa. D. & C. 417; 1943 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 277

Counsel

Edward Merchant, for libellant., E. Humes Garber, for respondent.

Sirbaugh v. Sirbaugh

Opinion of the Court

Sloane, J.,

— After the master’s hearing in this case (January 22, 1943) and before the master filed his report (February 20,1943) recommending a divorce, respondent husband died (February 11,1943). The action is therefore abated.

Death dissolved the marital tie and there is nothing further for this court to do. “It is physically and logically impossible for any decree to dissolve a tie which is already dissolved by nature — by act of God”; Stanhope v. Stanhope, L. R. 11 P. D. 103 (1886), 82 Am. Dec. 198, referred to in Hammond v. Hammond, 9 D. & C. 228, 229 (1927). Upperman v. Upperman, *418119 Pa. Superior Ct. 341 (1935), is different because there a final decree had been enforced.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.