Quinn v. Miles, C-49

• Decision Date: 29 November 1960
• Docket Number: No. C-49,C-49
• Citation: 124 So.2d 883
• Parties: Martha QUINN, widow of Charley H. Quinn, deceased, and Cora Gadson and Leila Refour, heirs of Charley H. Quinn, deceased, Appellants, v. Rosena MILES, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 883

124 So.2d 883

Martha QUINN, widow of Charley H. Quinn, deceased, and Cora Gadson and Leila Refour, heirs of Charley H. Quinn, deceased, Appellants, v. Rosena MILES, Appellee.

No. C-49.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

Nov. 29, 1960.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 28, 1960.

Cecil G. Costin, Jr., Port St. Joe, for appellants.

Benjamin H. Dickens, Port St. Joe, for appellee.

WIGGINTON, Chief Judge.

Appellants have appealed from an adverse final decree entered in an action for declaratory relief brought by them against appellee. By their suit appellants allege that the plaintiff, Martha Quinn, was the lawful widow of Charley H. Quinn, who at the time of his death on March 4, 1958, owned a parcel of real estate in Gulf County which he occupied as his home. It is further alleged that the plaintiffs, Cora Gadson and Leila Refour, are the lawful children and heirs at law of their father, Charley Quinn. It is prayed that the alleged relationship of the plaintiffs to the decedent be declared by the court and that Martha Quinn be decreed to own a life estate in the home with remainder in fee simple vested in her daughters, the coplaintiffs. It is alleged that the defendant, Rosena Miles, occupies the property in question and asserts some claim of ownership thereto as the surviving widow of Charley H. Quinn by virtue of a purported marriage between her and the decedent prior to his death.

In her answer to the complaint appellee alleged that she was the lawful wife of Quinn by virtue of her marriage to him in 1957. In addition she interposed the affirmative defense of equitable estoppel. Evidence in support of this defense was adduced at the trial.

Upon consideration of the proofs adduced at the hearing before the court, the chancellor decreed that the property in question was the homestead of Charley H. Quinn at the time of his death; that appellee, Rosena Miles, is the lawful widow of the decedent and owns a life estate in the home; that the plaintiffs, Leila Refour and Cora Gadson, are the lawful children and lineal descendants of the decedent and own a vested remainder in the home involved in the cause. It is further decreed that plaintiff was not estopped to maintain this action, but since this ruling has not been assigned as error on appeal, its correctness will be presumed without further consideration.

Appellants contend that the chancellor either disregarded the uncontradicted evidence touching upon the crucial issue in the case, or applied to the evidence an incorrect principle of law in reaching the conclusion that appellee, Rosena Miles, is the lawful widow of the decedent. Although the record reflects sharp conflicts in the evidence relating to issues immaterial to our determination of this appeal, it is equally clear that on the question presented to us for decision the evidence is not in material dispute.

The record reveals that appellant, Martha Quinn, married the decedent on February 4, 1905. There was born of this marriage five children, all but two of whom died either at childbirth or in infancy. The two surviving children of the marriage are the plaintiffs, Leila Refour and Cora Gadson. The marriage relation between the parties was disrupted in 1913 when the decedent severely beat Martha with a cow bell at a time when she was pregnant. As a result of this beating Martha suffered bodily injuries which resulted in the death of the child she was then carrying, and inflicted such serious wounds upon her body that the scars were still visible at the time testimony was taken in this case. Because of the decedent's actions toward Martha, she left his home and took up residence in the home of her parents. In 1914 the deceased instituted a suit for divorce against Martha, but she testified that she refused to consent to the divorce and employed an attorney to represent her. The court records reflect that this case proceeded no further than the entry of a decree pro confesso against Martha and was never completed by the entry of a final decree.

On June 17, 1916, the decedent married one Lizzie Quinn from whom he separated and against whom he instituted divorce proceedings in 1920. Like his first attempt at freeing himself from an unwanted wife, the court records reveal that this suit also proceeded to the entry of a decree pro confesso against the wife, but was never completed by the entry of a final decree. This factor seems immaterial, however, for the reason that the decedent remarried Lizzie within a few months after the suit for divorce was instituted, and continued living with her as husband and wife until Lizzie's death in 1950. It was during the existence of this purported matrimonial relationship that the decedent acquired the home in which he was living at the time of his death. Following Lizzie's death the decedent commenced living with appellee, Rosena Miles, in 1956, which after a period of about one year culminated in a marriage of the parties on February 14, 1957. Rosena lived with decedent in his home until his death on March 4, 1958.

The evidence reveals without substantial dispute that the decedent lived and worked in Calhoun and Gulf Counties during the entire period of his life. Martha testified that she had never instituted a suit for divorce against the decedent, and with the exception of the decedent's attempt to divorce her in 1914, she had no knowledge of any suit for divorce having been instituted by the decedent against her. To like effect was the testimony of her daughters, the coplaintiffs. As...