Desjardins v. Desjardins, No. 893.

CourtUnited States District Courts. 6th Circuit. United States District Court of Eastern District of Kentucky
Writing for the CourtSWINFORD
Citation193 F. Supp. 210
Docket NumberNo. 893.
Decision Date06 March 1961
PartiesRosemary Scott DESJARDINS, Plaintiff, v. Irene DESJARDINS, Individually and as Administratrix with the Will Annexed of the Estate of Gregory T. Desjardins, Deceased, Defendant.

193 F. Supp. 210

Rosemary Scott DESJARDINS, Plaintiff,
v.
Irene DESJARDINS, Individually and as Administratrix with the Will Annexed of the Estate of Gregory T. Desjardins, Deceased, Defendant.

No. 893.

United States District Court E. D. Kentucky, Covington Division.

March 6, 1961.


193 F. Supp. 211

Bullitt, Dawson & Tarrant, by M. Brooks Senn, Louisville, Ky., Ramson, Bogaty, Trainor & MacDonald, by Malcolm D. MacDonald, New York City, for plaintiff.

193 F. Supp. 212

Ben Turpen, Cincinnati, Ohio, Ware & Ware, by William O. Ware, Covington, Ky., for defendant.

SWINFORD, District Judge.

Rosemary Scott Desjardins, the plaintiff and Gregory T. Desjardins, now deceased, were married in 1923 and lived together as husband and wife until 1944. The only issue born of this marriage was a son, John Scott Desjardins. In the early part of 1944 Mr. and Mrs. Desjardins separated and a decree of divorce was entered on June 20, 1944. As a part of the separation arrangement which culminated in the absolute divorce, the parties, on April 7, 1944, entered into a written agreement. This writing, called "Articles of Agreement", provides inter alia the following:

"1. The Wife shall undertake to sell the real estate located on Drake Road, Village of Indian Hill, Ohio, and shall be entitled to the entire net proceeds thereof after the payment of the mortgage lien thereon and after a payment in the amount of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) to the Husband. * * *
"2. The Husband agrees to pay the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($250.00) per month to the Wife so long as the Wife shall live or until she remarries.
* * * * * *
"4. The Wife shall have and be entitled to the exclusive custody of the child, John Scott Desjardins. The Husband agrees to pay for the support, education and maintenance of the said John Scott Desjardins, until the said John Scott Desjardins attains the age of twenty-one (21) years, excepting that the Wife shall pay, out of the proceeds of the sale of the house as set forth in paragraph 1, the tuition for said John Scott Desjardins at St. John's College, where he is now enrolled for the balance of his undergraduate course at said college. Said tuition shall be paid in advance at the time said house is sold. In the event, however, that any tuition is refundable or refunded the Wife shall be entitled to said refund.
* * * * * *
"6. The Husband agrees to maintain and keep in force Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) life insurance (with The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York), in and to which the Wife is beneficiary to the amount of the full proceeds of said insurance. The Husband further agrees not to change the beneficial interest of the Wife in said insurance."

These "Articles of Agreement" were incorporated into and made a part of the decree of divorce.

On or about June 15, 1956, Gregory T. Desjardins died testate, a resident of Bracken County, Kentucky. At the time of his death he was married to the defendant, Irene Desjardins, who qualified as his administratrix with the will annexed of his estate, and appears here as defendant, both individually and in her trust capacity.

Under the terms of the will the only legatees or devisees of Mr. Desjardins' estate were his wife, Irene Desjardins, and his son, John Scott Desjardins.

The record shows that neither party to the "Articles of Agreement" performed its obligations. The plaintiff, Rosemary Scott Desjardins, sold the house and paid over to her former husband, Gregory T. Desjardins, the sum of $1,000, but did not pay her net receipts amounting to $4,884.14 from the sale of the house to St. John's College for the education of her son as required by the fourth paragraph of the agreement. Instead she used it for her own living expenses. Gregory did not make the monthly payments of $250 to Rosemary as required by paragraph 2. It was because of this failure to make the monthly payments that Rosemary used the funds received from the house for living expenses, which she says she was compelled to do.

After the separation and divorce, Rosemary moved to New York where she has

193 F. Supp. 213
continued to live. The parties communicated from time to time and there was apparently a reasonably friendly relation between them although Gregory repeatedly failed to send to his former wife the alimony payments set forth in the decree. From the time of the decree until the time of his death, he paid to her as alimony the sum of $6,867

The record presents for determination the following questions: (1) Is the judgment of the Ohio court entitled to full faith and credit in an action in this district or must the relief be sought in the court which entered the decree of divorce? In other words, is the decree such a final judgment as may be used as a basis for this action? (2) Is recovery barred or limited on the principle of abandonment of contract or breach of the obligations of the decree by the plaintiff? (3) Is the estate of Gregory T. Desjardins bound for the monthly alimony payments which accrued and will continue to accrue after decedent's death and during the life of the plaintiff? (4) Is the decedent's estate liable to the extent of the ten thousand dollars life insurance policy referred to in the decree and which the plaintiff claims was never purchased?

The divorce was granted and the decree entered by an Ohio court and the issues presented must therefore be determined by the law of Ohio.

The court is of the opinion that full faith and credit must be accorded the Ohio decree. Past due installments for future alimony under a judgment rendered in one state are within the protection of the full faith and credit clause of the Federal Constitution (Art. 4, § 1) unless it appears from the decree that the court rendering it had the...

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17 practice notes
  • Desjardins v. Desjardins, No. 14582
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)
    • September 26, 1962
    ...This is a diversity case, tried to the Court without a jury. The District Judge's opinion is reported as Desjardins v. Desjardins, D.C., 193 F.Supp. 210. Gregory and Rosemary were married in 1923. They had a son, John. On April 7, 1944, they executed a separation agreement, the following po......
  • Huggins v. Deinhard, No. 1
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Arizona
    • October 19, 1982
    ...uniformly support this position. See, e.g., Sistare v. Sistare, 218 U.S. 1, 30 S.Ct. 682, 54 L.Ed. 905 (1910); Desjardins v. Desjardins, 193 F.Supp. 210 (E.D.Ky.1961); Morse v. Morse, 3 Misc.2d 163, 153 N.Y.S.2d 957 (1956); Cohen v. Cohen, 158 Fla. 802, 30 So.2d 307 (1947); Biewend v. Biewe......
  • Popovic v. Popovic
    • United States
    • United States Court of Appeals (Ohio)
    • July 31, 1975
    ...whether denominated alimony or division of property is classified as alimony under R.C. 3105.18. Desjardins v. Desjardins (E.D.Ky.1961), 193 F.Supp. 210; Durham v. Durham, supra; Petransky v. Repository Printing Co. (1935), 51 Ohio App. 306, 200 N.E. 647, 20 Ohio Law Abst. 491, Permanent al......
  • Catron v. Catron, No. 25694
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Missouri (US)
    • March 5, 1973
    ...court as to the obligor's intention to bind his estate for continued payments after his death.' Desjardins v. Desjardins (D.C.E.D.Ky.), 193 F.Supp. 210, 214; and 'The intent of any document, however, may not be determined by an isolated statement culled from it, particularly where, as here,......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
17 cases
  • Desjardins v. Desjardins, No. 14582
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (6th Circuit)
    • September 26, 1962
    ...This is a diversity case, tried to the Court without a jury. The District Judge's opinion is reported as Desjardins v. Desjardins, D.C., 193 F.Supp. 210. Gregory and Rosemary were married in 1923. They had a son, John. On April 7, 1944, they executed a separation agreement, the following po......
  • Huggins v. Deinhard, No. 1
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Arizona
    • October 19, 1982
    ...uniformly support this position. See, e.g., Sistare v. Sistare, 218 U.S. 1, 30 S.Ct. 682, 54 L.Ed. 905 (1910); Desjardins v. Desjardins, 193 F.Supp. 210 (E.D.Ky.1961); Morse v. Morse, 3 Misc.2d 163, 153 N.Y.S.2d 957 (1956); Cohen v. Cohen, 158 Fla. 802, 30 So.2d 307 (1947); Biewend v. Biewe......
  • Popovic v. Popovic
    • United States
    • United States Court of Appeals (Ohio)
    • July 31, 1975
    ...whether denominated alimony or division of property is classified as alimony under R.C. 3105.18. Desjardins v. Desjardins (E.D.Ky.1961), 193 F.Supp. 210; Durham v. Durham, supra; Petransky v. Repository Printing Co. (1935), 51 Ohio App. 306, 200 N.E. 647, 20 Ohio Law Abst. 491, Permanent al......
  • Catron v. Catron, No. 25694
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Missouri (US)
    • March 5, 1973
    ...court as to the obligor's intention to bind his estate for continued payments after his death.' Desjardins v. Desjardins (D.C.E.D.Ky.), 193 F.Supp. 210, 214; and 'The intent of any document, however, may not be determined by an isolated statement culled from it, particularly where, as here,......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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