Black v. Moody

• Decision Date: 10 October 2000
• Citation: 714 N.Y.S.2d 30,276 A.D.2d 303
• Parties: ROBERT S. BLACK et al., Respondents,<BR>v.<BR>ISHMEL MOODY et al., Appellants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

276 A.D.2d 303

714 N.Y.S.2d 30

ROBERT S. BLACK et al., Respondents,

v.ISHMEL MOODY et al., Appellants.

Decided October 10, 2000.

Concur — Rosenberger, J.P., Nardelli, Williams, Mazzarelli and Wallach, JJ.

While defendants contend that Aime Chee-Lan was not the common-law wife of the decedent and accordingly is without standing as a distributee to seek damages for the decedent's alleged wrongful death, summary judgment dismissing plaintiffs' wrongful death cause of action upon this ground was properly denied. While a common-law marriage may not arise in New York, New York does accord recognition to common-law marriages validly contracted in sister States (see, Cross v Cross, 102 AD2d 638). Chee-Lan's affidavit, to the effect that she and the decedent held themselves out as, and expressed an intent to be, husband and wife in a jurisdiction that recognizes common-law marriage, sufficiently raised triable issues as to whether she had in fact entered into a common-law marriage with the decedent cognizable in New York.