Bartle v. Walsh Construction Company

• Decision Date: 11 March 1932
• Docket Number: 14,409
• Citation: 180 N.E. 294,94 Ind.App. 171
• Parties: BARTLE v. WALSH CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

180 N.E. 294

94 Ind.App. 171

BARTLE v. WALSH CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

No. 14,409

Court of Appeals of Indiana

March 11, 1932

From Industrial Board of Indiana.

Proceeding under the Workmen's Compensation Law by Leona A. Bartle claiming to be the wife and sole dependent of a deceased employee, Edward W. Bartle, opposed by the Walsh Construction Company, employer. The defendant filed a special answer which alleged that, prior to the injury which resulted in the decedent's death, the claimant had obtained a divorce from said decedent in the Clark Circuit Court, that no appeal was ever taken from said decree, and that it was still in full force and effect, and, by virtue of the divorce decree she had ceased to be entitled to the support of the decedent and, therefore, was not dependent on him. The Industrial Board found in accordance with the answer and denied compensation. From such denial, claimant appealed.

Affirmed.

James L. Bottorff and Stotsenburg, Weathers & Minton, for appellant.

Jonas G. Howard, for appellee.

OPINION

NEAL, J.

Appellant seeks to recover compensation as a dependent by virtue of the death of Edward W. Bartle, who she alleged, was her husband. Appellee, by special answer in two paragraphs, alleged, in substance: That prior to 1928, plaintiff (appellant herein) filed in the Clark Circuit Court, on March 3, 1928, an action praying that she be granted a divorce from Edward W. Bartle; that thereafter, in pursuance to a summons issued by the clerk of the Clark Circuit Court, Edward W. Bartle was personally ordered to appear in the Clark Circuit Court on March 17, 1928; that thereafter, the cause came on for trial before the judge of the Clark Circuit Court, and the court, after hearing the evidence, on May 19, 1928, rendered a judgment in the words and figures as follows: "It is therefore considered and adjudged by the court that the bonds of matrimony existing between plaintiff and defendant be, and they are hereby, dissolved, and that said plaintiff is hereby granted a divorce from said defendant. It is further considered and adjudged by the court that the plaintiff recover of said defendant her costs and charges paid, laid out and expended"; that no appeal was ever taken from the judgment, and the same was, on July 12, 1928, and is now, in full force and effect; that more than two years have elapsed since the rendition of the judgment, and that by virtue of the judgment, plaintiff ceased to be entitled to the support of Edward W. Bartle; that claimant was not dependent on Edward W. Bartle, either totally or partially, on July 12, 1928.

The finding of the Industrial Board may be summarized as follows: That, on July 12, 1928, one Edward Bartle was in the employ of the Walsh Construction Company (appellee herein), at an average weekly wage in excess of $ 30; and, on the above-named date, the employee received a personal injury by reason of an accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, which injury resulted in his death on the same day; that plaintiff filed her application for adjustment of compensation with the Industrial Board on July 6, 1930, claiming to be the wife and the sole partial dependent on the deceased for support; that plaintiff, Leona A. Bartle, and the deceased, Edward Bartle, were duly married on November 31, 1909, and lived together as husband and wife until February 28, 1928, at which time they separated and have not since lived or cohabited together as husband and wife (the board then found as a fact the several allegations contained in the special answer, all as heretofore set forth); that no children were born to the plaintiff and defendant (Edward W. Bartle), as a result of their marriage; that the plaintiff was not a dependent on the deceased at the time of his injury and death within the meaning of the Indiana Workmen's Compensation Act.

The award followed the finding. The error assigned is that the award of the full board is contrary to law.

The evidence discloses that, at the time appellant as plaintiff instituted her suit for divorce in the Clark Circuit Court, she filed the following affidavit omitting caption: "Leona Bartle, being duly sworn upon her oath says that she is the plaintiff in the above entitled cause; that she is now and has been for two years last past a bona fide resident of the State of Indiana; and for six months last past has resided in the city of Jeffersonville, Clark County." The affidavit was subscribed and sworn to before a notary public.

Appellant, by an imposing array of authorities as hereinafter cited, presents the proposition that the Clark Circuit Court was without jurisdiction over the subject-matter of the divorce proceeding, there being no affidavit filed with the petition alleging the residence of the petitioner as required by law, therefore, its judgment is void. Hetherington v. Hetherington (1928), 200 Ind. 56, 160 N.E. 345; Wills v. Wills (1911), 176 Ind. 631, 96 N.E. 763; Klepfer v. Klepfer (1930), 173 N.E. 232; Payne v. Payne (1930), 90 Ind.App. 594, 169 N.E. 475; Canan v. Canan (1929), 88 Ind.App. 623, 165 N.E. 263.

The several defects in the affidavit are: (1) The length of time the petitioner had resided in the state does not appear therefrom; (2) the particular place, town, city or township at which the petitioner resided for the two years next preceding the filing of the petition is not shown; and (3) the occupation of the petitioner is not stated. See Hoffman v. Hoffman (1918), 67 Ind.App. 230 119 N.E. 18; Foreman v. Foreman (1921), 76 Ind.App. 83, 131 N.E. 419; Crowell v. Crowell (1924), 82 Ind.App. 281, 145 N.E. 780. Appellant follows the several propositions as above set forth with the following: A statement of the occupation in the affidavit is as much an essential fact thereof as the other requirements, but was not shown by the affidavit in the cause at bar. Miller v. Miller (1914), 55...