Betancourt v. Larregui
Betancourt v. Larregui
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Clemencia Betancourt alleged and proved in the lower
The lower court ordered that the defendant pay to his wife the sum of $15 a month and in the appeal taken by the husband from that order he alleges as a ground for its reversal that the complaint and the evidence are insufficient because it was not alleged nor proved that the appellant owns property and his wages cannot be considered as property.
The provisions of section 168 of the Civil' Code that the sum to be paid to the wife by the husband for her separate maintenance shall be in proportion to his property does not limit that obligation to a case where the husband may have separate property of his own, as maintained by the appellant, for, according to section 324 of the same code, the word “property” is applicable in general to anything of which riches or fortune may consist; therefore within this definition is included the salary or wages received by a person for his work. Besides, the English text of said section 168 reads that the amount shall be in proportion to the husband’s means.
The order appealed from is
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.