American General Ins. Co. v. Alexander, 4570.

• Decision Date: 16 December 1948
• Docket Number: No. 4570.,4570.
• Citation: 216 S.W.2d 997
• Parties: AMERICAN GENERAL INS. CO. v. ALEXANDER.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

216 S.W.2d 997

AMERICAN GENERAL INS. CO. v. ALEXANDER.

No. 4570.

Court of Civil Appeals of Texas. Beaumont.

December 16, 1948.

Rehearing Denied January 12, 1949.

Appeal from District Court, Orange County; F. W. Hustmjre, Judge.

Suit under the Workmen's Compensation Act by Mary Alexander to set aside an award of the Industrial Accident Board opposed by the American General Insurance Company. From a judgment granting relief, the defendant appeals.

Affirmed.

Cecil & Keith, of Beaumont, for appellant.

E. L. Reid, of Orange, for appellee.

MURRAY, Justice.

Mary Alexander, the appellee, recovered judgment against American General Insurance Company, appellant, in the District Court of Orange County for the death of her illegitimate son, Timothy Joseph, under the Workmen's Compensation law. The facts are without dispute and the appeal before us presents only the question whether the mother of an illegitimate child may recover Workmen's Compensation insurance benefits for the death of such an illegitimate son.

The right of the appellee to recover for the death of her unmarried illegitimate son is determined by that portion of our Workmen's Compensation statute found in Article 8306, § 8a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes Annotated, which reads in part as follows:

"* * * The compensation provided for in the foregoing section of this law shall be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the surviving husband who has not for good cause and for a period of three years prior thereto, abandoned his wife at the time of the injury, and of the wife who has not at the time of the injury without good cause and for a period of three years prior thereto, abondoned her husband, and of the minor children, parents and stepmother, without regard to the question of dependency, dependent grandparents, dependent children and dependent brothers and sisters of the deceased employé; and the amount recovered thereunder shall not be liable for the debts of the deceased nor the debts of the beneficiary or beneficiaries and shall be distributed among the beneficiaries as may be entitled to the same as hereinbefore provided according to the laws of descent and distribution of this State; provided the right in such beneficiary or beneficiaries to recover compensation for death be determined by the facts that exist at the date of the death of the deceased and that said right be a complete, absolute and vested one. Such compensation shall not pass to the estate of the deceased to be administered upon, but shall be paid directly to said beneficiaries when the same are capable of taking, under the laws of this State, or to their guardian or next friend, in case of lunacy, infancy or other disqualifying cause of any beneficiary. The compensation provided for in this law shall be paid weekly to the beneficiaries herein specified, subject to the provisions of this law."

The appellant states that no decision by the Texas courts is to be found directly in point but reasons by analogy from the holdings of various Texas decisions which hold that an illegitimate child is not entitled under this statute to recover Workmen's Compensation benefits for the death of its father, that Mary Alexander, the appellee here, cannot recover as beneficiary for the death of her unmarried illegitimate son. Appellant cites and relies upon the decisions in the cases of Travelers Insurance Co. v. Peters, Tex.Civ.App., 280 S.W. 310, 311; Sanchez v. Texas Employers' Insurance Ass'n, Tex.Civ.App., 51 S.W.2d 818; United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. v. Henderson, Tex.Civ.App., 53 S.W.2d 811; Hargrove v. Lloyds Casualty Co. of New York, Tex.Civ.App., 66 S.W.2d 466; Commercial Standard Ins. Co. v. Austin, Tex. Civ.App., 128 S.W.2d 836; Texas Indemnity Ins. Co. v. Hubbard, Tex.Civ.App., 138 S.W.2d 626. All of the above cited decisions establish the rule that illegitimate children cannot recover the benefits of Workmen's Compensation insurance for the death of their father. No authority is shown nor have we been able to discover any which goes so far as to hold that an illegitimate child may not recover such benefits for the death of its mother.

We do not agree with the contention of the...