Brown v. Brown

• Decision Date: 19 June 1969
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Regina Josephine BROWN, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Ralph Waldo BROWN et al., Defendants and Appellants. Civ. 993.

Page 257

79 Cal.Rptr. 257

Regina Josephine BROWN, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Ralph Waldo BROWN et al., Defendants and Appellants.

Civ. 993.

Court of Appeal, Fifth District, California.

June 19, 1969.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing July 18, 1969.

Hearing Denied Aug. 13, 1969.

Frederick L. Hilger, Eureka, for defendants-appellants.

C. Ray Robinson, William T. Ivey, Jr., John Bucan and Peter C. Morris, Merced, for plaintiff-respondent.

OPINION

GARGANO, Associate Justice.

Ralph Waldo Brown (hereafter referred to as Ralph) and Regina Josephine Brown (hereafter referred to as Regina) were married in 1916. The marriage commenced to deteriorate in 1932 when they ceased living together except for occasional week end visits by Ralph. Regina brought this action for a divorce in 1966, almost 35 years later. She named Charlotte Lundblade (hereafter referred to as Charlotte), who has lived with Ralph, as Ralph's wife, since 1939, as co-defendant. Ralph and Charlotte appeal from the judgment granting Regina an interlocutory decree of divorce on the ground of extreme cruelty and awarding Regina approximately one-fourth of all the property standing in Ralph's and Charlotte's joint names and one-fourth of most of the property standing in Charlotte's own name, together with alimony in the amount of $400 per month and attorney fees and costs. In short, the trial court found that Ralph was validly married to Regina, that his 1939 ex parte Mexican divorce from Regina was invalid, that his 1939 marriage to Charlotte was also invalid, that Charlotte was not Ralph's putative spouse but, rather, had lived with him for more than 28 years after their invalid marriage in a meretricious relationship, that Ralph and Charlotte so commingled their individual properties that their separate interests could not be traced, that one-half of all property standing in Ralph's and Charlotte's joint names and one-half of all property (with a few minor exceptions) standing in Charlotte's name alone was the community property of Ralph and Regina, that Regina was entitled to one-half of the community property, or about $600,000, plus attorney fees and costs in the amount of $78,802.01.

It is conceded that Ralph acquired a Mexican divorce from Regina in 1939 without giving her notice. Thus, it is also clear that the court's findings that Ralph's divorce was void and that his subsequent marriage to Charlotte in 1939 was invalid are supported by the evidence and the law. The California courts have long denied validity to Mexican divorces obtained by California residents "ex parte without reasonable notice." (Scott v. Scott, 51 Cal.2d 249, 256, 331 P.2d 641 [concurring].) Moreover, once a divorce is proved invalid, a subsequent marriage by either party is also deemed invalid (Estate of Goldberg, 203 Cal.App.2d 402, 21 Cal.Rptr. 626). Nevertheless, this case is a classic example of the basic unfairness of an archaic rule, which purports to allow a wife, who stood silently and complacently by, collecting support payments for almost 28 years with the knowledge that her husband was openly and notoriously living with her rival in a marital relationship, to step in and successfully claim almost $600,000 of property accumulated by the husband and his new partner, partly through their combined efforts and partly through the use of the other woman's separate property. And, significantly, this archaic rule was applied in this case merely because the wife did not have "any substantial or convincing knowledge" that the husband had procured an invalid Mexican divorce. The facts leading to this bizarre result are these:

Ralph and Regina were married in Tehama County, California in 1916. Three children were born to the marriage, in 1917, 1920 and 1927, respectively. Ralph was a civil engineer engaged in construction work, and from 1917 to 1930 the family moved from one construction job to another; they then settled in Oroville in 1930.

Two years later, in 1932, Regina received an anonymous letter from Eureka, stating that Ralph was keeping company with "a very respectful young woman of this town and posing as an unmarried man." She hired a private detective and learned that her husband was having an affair with Charlotte. Regina then confronted Charlotte in Eureka and asked her if she was "going around with her husband." Charlotte admitted that she was keeping company with Ralph; she stated that he told her that he "had been married but had a divorce in the making." The two women agreed to confront Ralph in Sacramento.

On the following day the parties to the triangle met in a hotel room in Sacramento. Charlotte testified that Ralph told Regina that he wanted her to obtain a divorce and that if she refused he would obtain the divorce himself. Charlotte also testified that she told Ralph and Regina that if they were not going to get a divorce, and could make up and live happily together, she would never see Ralph again. Regina denied that Ralph asked her for a divorce and that Charlotte offered to give Ralph up. However, a short time later she wrote Ralph "when you told me in Sacramento that you would never live with me again, did you think for one minute I would try to make you?"

Following the confrontation in the hotel in Sacramento, Ralph continued his meretricious relationship with Charlotte until 1939. In 1939 he informed her that he had acquired a final decree of divorce. He also asked her to marry him. Charlotte consented, and the marriage ceremony was performed in Azusa, California on March 25, 1939. At the time, Ralph had no assets of his own; he was a salaried employee of a construction firm earning about $300 a month. On the other hand, Charlotte owned a summer home at Orick, a home on Porter Street in Eureka, a bowling alley in downtown Eureka, an apartment house with four rental units in Eureka, and an undivided 1/8 interest in ranch property on the Eel River.

In November 1940 Charlotte purchased a construction company with her own money and in her own name. ¹ She then transferred most of her separate property to the company to insure adequate capitalization. ² A few months later the company was reincorporated as the Mercer, Fraser Corporation, and a single stock certificate, representing one hundred per cent ownership, was issued to Charlotte. Thereafter, the new corporation engaged in the contracting business with Ralph as its general manager until October 1942.

In October 1942 Ralph and Charlotte formed a limited partnership. Ralph was designated a general partner and given a salary of $500 per month. He was also given one-half of the partnership profits. On the other hand, Charlotte was designated as a limited partner and was to receive the remaining one-half of the partnership profits. Charlotte then dissolved the Mercer, Fraser Corporation and transferred its assets actually used in the contracting business to the limited partnership. Charlotte's separate properties are reflected on the corporation balance sheet as being transferred back to and retained by her as her separate property. ³

Two years later, in 1944, Ralph adopted Charlotte's daughter, Beverley, and when Beverley died (in 1960) he and Charlotte adopted Beverley's three children.

In 1948 Ralph and Charlotte formed a corporation and again named it the Mercer, Fraser Corporation. They also transferred all of the limited patnership assets to the new corporation. Ralph became the president and general manager and held this position until 1963. In 1963 Ralph became very ill from Parkinson's disease. He visited the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for treatment, but his condition deteriorated rapidly. Ralph was never again in full active charge of the business.

In 1962 the Mercer, Fraser Corporation encountered severe financial difficulties. In November of that year the company borrowed $300,000 from the Small Business Administration, and after applying this loan to the payment of its debts still owed about $600,000. The following year the company was in serious financial difficulty and borrowed an additional $100,000 from the bank. Charlotte personally guaranteed the Small Business Administration loan and even pledged her downtown Eureka commercial property to guarantee the corporation's credit. She also loaned the company $20,000 and $50,000 from funds standing in her own name. The company's financial picture changed after 1963, and by July 31, 1966, it showed a net worth of approximately $1,000,000.

Returning to Regina, we find that in 1933 she moved, with Ralph's mother (who by then was living with her) and the children to Oakland so that the oldest son, John, could enroll at St. Mary's College. Ralph visited the family on weekends and holidays. He also sent Regina $200 a month. Ralph's weekly visits were discontinued in 1939, and by 1940 almost all correspondence stopped. However, the monthly payments continued (with the exception of one short interval) until June 1966. Moreover, Ralph sent $30 a month to his oldest son John to help him with his schooling, and he also paid the tuition for his daughter for a master's degree at Stanford.

In 1941 Regina moved to a home in Albany, which was purchased by "Ralph W. Brown and Regina J. Brown, his wife, as joint tenants." ⁴ The children lived with Regina in this home until the youngest was old enough to leave in 1944. Ralph's mother also lived with Regina in the home until her death in 1947. After her mother-in-law's death, Regina continued to live in the Albany home by herself until 1965 when she moved to Livingston, California to be with her daughter Betty. In the meantime she worked for several years and even took a trip to Europe.

In June 1966 Regina received a $200 check from Charlotte with a notation stating that it was the last check Regina was going to receive. Then Regina applied for Medicare and learned that she was eligible for Social Security payments. The Social Security Administration contacted Charlotte...