Janke v. Janke

• Decision Date: 18 February 1972
• Docket Number: No. 43060,43060
• Parties: Alice M. JANKE, Respondent, v. Melvin F. JANKE, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 185

195 N.W.2d 185

292 Minn. 296

Alice M. JANKE, Respondent, v. Melvin F. JANKE, Appellant.

No. 43060.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Feb. 18, 1972.

Syllabus by the Court

In an action by a wife against her husband for injuries resulting from the negligence of the husband, the wife may not recover her medical expenses unless it is proved that she personally paid such expenses or has expressly or impliedly assumed liability for them.

Winter, Lundquist, Sherwood & Athens, Wheaton, for appellant.

Richard S. Roberts, Morris, Swanson Brothers, Elbow Lake, for respondent.

Heard and considered en banc.

OPINION

KNUTSON, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from an order of the trial court denying defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

The case arises out of an automobile accident which occurred when plaintiff was riding as a passenger in her husband's car. She sued her husband to recover for her personal injuries and medical expenses. The case was submitted to the jury on a special verdict in which the jury found defendant's negligence was the direct cause of plaintiff's injuries and that she was entitled to $2,500 for her injuries and $2,500 for her medical expenses.

The case has been submitted here on the following stipulation of facts, approved by the trial court, in lieu of a reporter's record pursuant to Rule 110.04, Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure:

'The accident involved in this action on appeal occurred February 22, 1970, in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, while respondent-plaintiff Alice M. Janke, was a passenger in an automobile operated by her husband, appellant-defendant Melvin F. Janke. As a result of the accident, respondent-wife was injured and thereafter received medical attention and was hospitalized, and will receive medical attention in the future.

'A lawsuit was initiated by Alice M. Janke against her husband for personal injuries, and, among other things, she alleged that she incurred medical and hospital expenses, past and future.

'The allegation was denied and the plaintiff was put to her proof of same.

'During the course of trial, the amount of medical and hospital bills incurred were admitted into evidence, and a prognosis for probably future medical expense was testified to by her doctor.

'No evidence was offered or admitted at the trial relating to whether the obligation or responsibility for the medical and hospital bills was attributable to plaintiff Alice M. Janke; no evidence was offered as to whether she or her husband received the bills, no evidence as to which of them made any payments on the bills, if any were made, and no evidence as to who was being billed for them. In short, the record was blank as to who assumed the obligation and responsibility for the bills. She was employed at all relevant times.

'The jury was given a special verdict form which included in addition to questions of plaintiff's liability, a question numbered 4 which asked specifically what sum of money would compensate plaintiff for medical expenses incurred, past and future. To this, the defendant took due exception, and the jury answered in the sum of $2,500.00. The inclusion of that question and the amount attributable thereto by the jury were the subject of defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict following trial. The trial court denied the motion and the amount of the medical expenses was included in the judgment ordered by the Court upon denial of defendant's motion. From that portion of the order, defendant makes this appeal.'

The only question presented here is whether a wife in a suit against her husband for personal injuries caused by his negligence may recover medical expenses incurred in treating the wife.

The question becomes important since we abrogated the interspousal immunity between husband and wife in Beaudette v. Frana, 285 Minn. 366, 173 N.W.2d 416 (1969), thereby giving one spouse a right to sue the other for injuries resulting from tort. If in such a case the wife cannot recover her medical expenses in a suit against her husband, they cannot be recovered at all since the husband is in no position to recover such expenses if they are caused by his own tort.

The question of a wife's right to recover medical expenses incurred in treating injuries to...