Nevarez v. Bailon
| Decision Date | 25 January 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 5137,5137 |
| Parties | Concepcion Legaretta NEVAREZ, Appellant, v. Maria Nevarez de BAILON and husband, Guardalupe Bailon H., Appellees. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Charles R. Loomis, Samuel K. Wasaff, El Paso, for appellant.
Galvan & Galvan, El Paso, for appellees.
Appellant sought to be appointed administratrix of the estate of Guardalupe Nevarez, and also sought a widow's allowance and other claims as the surviving wife or woidow of the said Nevarez. Her claims were denied by the Probate Court of El Paso County, and the matter was appealed to the 41st District Court of El Paso County. The trial court withdrew the case from the jury and awarded a judgment in favor of appellee, and from such action appellant has brought her appeal to this court.
Appellant and deceased Nevarez had apparently entered into an agreement to live together, and did so from the year 1939 until the death of the deceased in 1952. There is ample evidence in the record that they cohabited as husband and wife and that the children of appellant lived in the home and were supported by the deceased, also that they were regarded as husband and wife by neighbors and friends, and that she on occasion had used the name Nevarez. They had not been united in any marriage ceremony, civil or religious. Appellant in her petition and proof alleges and maintains that she was the common-law wife of deceased and entitled as such to inherit her portion of the deceased's estate lying in Texas. It is undisputed that the couple never lived in Texas, and their home was in Juarez during the entire thirteen years that they lived together. Appellant urges in her brief that this couple had a relationship which corresponds to our common-law marriage-that is, the common-law marriage recognized by the State of Texas. This statement is largely true, with two notable exceptions. First, the parties to a Texas common-law marriage must be competent to contract, and secondly, the Texas common-law marriage can be terminated only by death, divorce or annulment. The relationship in the Republic of Mexico, State of Chihuahua, is called 'concubinage' and may be terminated at will by either party, and may be entered into although there is an impediment which would prevent the relationship of common-law marriage in Texas.
It is immediately apparent that before appellant can claim in the Texas courts as an heir of deceased she must be able to show that she was his wife at the place of their residence, which in this case is the State of Chihuahua. This she does not seem able to do. It is recognized that there is no common law in the Republic of Mexico and State of Chihuahua. Pilgrim v. Griffin, Tex.Civ.App., 237 S.W.2d 448. This record further verifies that fact by the testimony of attorneys from Juarez, Chihuahua, all of whom testified that it is a Code state, and all of the laws are found in one or more of the various codes that apply to the particular situation, and as one attorney testified, that rights and status of the people are determined by the provisions of the applicable code. The relationship called concubinage is expressly provided for in one of the codes of Chihuahua, and permits the female or concubine to inherit a portion of her partner's estate provided she can qualify under its terms, some of which are that the couple must have lived together and maintained their...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Medrano v. Mcdr, Inc.
...two states in Mexico in support of its position. See Rosales v. Battle, 113 Cal.App.4th 1178, 7 Cal.Rptr.3d 13 (2003); Nevarez v. Bailon, 287 S.W.2d 521 (Tex.Civ.App.1956). However, Medrano insists that these decisions are not applicable to the present case because they do not interpret the......
-
A.S. v. Advanced American Diving
... ... legal wife of the man, pursuant to Texas law, and could not ... inherit his Texas property. Nevarez v. Bailon , 287 ... S.W.2d 521 (Tex. Civ. App. 1956). The court acknowledged that ... a concubinage differs from a common-law marriage, ... ...
-
Hodges v. Pemberton
...at the most a meretricious or a concubinage relationship as defined in Perales v. Flores, supra, and Neverez v. Bailon, 287 S.W.2d 521 (El Paso Civ.App., 1956, writ ref.), Under the circumstances portrayed by the record in this case it is understandable that the learned trial judge would in......
-
Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. v. Arteaga
...of choice-of-law rules is to make the interstate and international systems work well.”).57 Id. § 6 cmt. e.58 See Nevarez v. Bailon, 287 S.W.2d 521, 523 (Tex.Civ.App.1956).59 Under Texas law, wrongful death actions are “for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse, children, and parents......