Prudential Insurance Company of America v. Lewis, Civ. A. No. 68-55.

• Decision Date: 28 July 1969
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 68-55.
• Parties: The PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, a corporation, Plaintiff, v. Patricia Ruth LEWIS et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

306 F. Supp. 1177

The PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, a corporation, Plaintiff, v. Patricia Ruth LEWIS et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 68-55.

United States District Court N. D. Alabama, S. D.

July 28, 1969.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ralph B. Tate and the firm of Spain, Gillon, Riley, Tate & Ansley, Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiff.

Robert Russell Bryan, Lindbergh, Lindbergh, Leach & Bryan, and William H. Ellis and Albert Boutwell, Birmingham, Ala., for defendants.

GROOMS, District Judge.

OPINION IN LIEU OF FORMAL FINDINGS

This is an interpleader action of which the Court has jurisdiction under Title 28 U.S.C.A. § 1335, and involves the conflicting claims of the purported widow of the insured, Arthur Lee Lewis, and of his heirs at law.

Lewis was a native of Alabama but was a sergeant in the United States Army stationed at Holloman Air Force Base in the State of New Mexico. He had been so stationed for some time prior to his sudden death on March 18, 1967. His death resulted from injuries received in an automobile accident occurring in that state.

Patricia Ruth Lewis, a native of Arkansas, who resided in El Paso, Texas, had married Cruz Herrera Duran, a native of New Mexico, who was also a resident of El Paso. This marriage took place on February 6, 1960, in the City of Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Neither of the Durans ever resided in Mexico.

In 1965 Mrs. Duran, whose maiden name was Bowman, and Lewis became acquainted and began to see each other. The Durans decided upon a divorce. On October 27, 1965, Duran went to Juarez, employed counsel and filed suit for divorce. The decree recites that the Durans had established a home in Fabens, Texas, that Mrs. Duran had left her home there after an argument, that her whereabouts was unknown, and that he prayed for summons by publication. The divorce proceedings were held in abeyance, apparently because the lawyer had not been paid his entire fee.

On February 19, 1967, Mrs. Duran, having decided to contract marriage with Sgt. Lewis, decided that she would check on the status of the divorce proceedings. She went to see a lawyer in Juarez¹. Upon inquiry she learned, or at least she understood, from the lawyer that the divorce had been granted. She and Sgt. Lewis decided forthwith to get married. They applied for a license in El Paso, but were refused a license because she was white and he was a Negro. They then went across the Rio Grande to Juarez, obtained a license, and were "married" on the last mentioned date in a formal ceremony by a Justice of the Peace.

Two or three days after the ceremony, Mrs. Duran, now Mrs. Lewis as she assumed, met Mr. Duran, and he told her that the divorce was "no good." Whereupon she returned to Juarez and went to see the lawyer who had filed the bill, to make inquiry as to Mr. Duran's claim. The lawyer told her that the divorce had not been granted and that additional money would be required, presumably for his fee. Mrs. Duran then returned to El Paso and obtained the required sum. This was delivered to the lawyer on the 23rd day of February 1967. At the same time she signed an answer, confessed the ground of incompatibility, and submitted herself to the jurisdiction of the court. She did not appear personally before the court, although the decree recites that she did so appear. The decree was formulated and signed on March 24, and filed on March 25, 1967.

Mrs. Lewis returned to her rooming house in El Paso after the ceremonial marriage. Lewis would visit her there on the weekends, and on most of the weekends she would accompany him back to Holloman and would spend a night or so with him in his private living quarters in the barracks. Just a few days before the accident Lewis applied for separate living quarters for himself and his new wife. From the 19th of February until his death she used his credit card, and signed her name "Mrs. Arthur Lewis." He introduced her as his wife and made a number of other declarations to that effect, and received congratulations on their marriage. Witness John C. Givens, a Southern Pacific porter, at whose home in El Paso Mrs. Lewis stayed while caring for his aged mother while he was away from home, testified that they held themselves out as man and wife. He had known them over a period of six months.

On February 10, 1967, Lewis wrote Mrs. Duran, while she was supposedly in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, pleading with her to "please come back so we can get married * * *" The marriage ceremony in Juarez followed soon after this entreaty. After he had been mortally injured and shortly before he expired Lewis inquired as to the safety of "my wife." Mrs. Lewis was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Mrs. Lewis received Sgt. Lewis's last pay check. The certificate of death filled out by a Justice of the Peace states that Patricia Lewis is the "wife" of the decedent.

Sgt. Lewis left surviving him six brothers and five sisters, and eight nephews and nieces, the children of two deceased brothers. All of these relatives are parties hereto.

The policy of insurance is in the amount of $10,000.00. The certificate executed on December 7, 1965, under provisions of Public Law 89-214 recites under b. thereof as follows:

"Beneficiary and Payment Designation. The law provides that where no beneficiary is designated, that beneficiary entitlements devolve to wife, children, and parents in that order. My desires are:

X Have beneficiary devolve under provisions of law.

_______The beneficiary(ies) which I designate are: (Where more than one beneficiary is designated, the percentage each is to receive is also required)

___________________________________"

Since the marraige ceremony of February 19, 1967, preceded the divorce decree it is not contended that that marriage was valid, but Mrs. Lewis contends that the Mexican divorce is a valid divorce, and that there was a valid common-law marriage under the laws of Texas and that therefore she is the lawful widow of the insured. The heirs dispute both claims.

VALIDITY OF THE MEXICAN DIVORCE

A decree which is void for want of jurisdiction is generally subject to collateral attack. 24 Am.Jur.2d Divorce and Separation § 478 at 602; Ingram v. Ingram, 143 Ala. 129, 42 So. 24.

The full faith and credit clause (Sec. 1, Art. 4) of the Constitution does not apply to a divorce obtained in a foreign country. 24 Am.Jur.2d Divorce and Separation § 964 at 1098. When such a decree is recognized it is by virtue of comity. Id.

The fact of domicile is a question to be determined by the lex fori. 15A C.J.S. Conflict of Laws § 9 at 422. The domicile being determined, the lex domicilii generally governs all questions of personal status such as the right to a divorce. Id., § 10 at 426. Since the Durans were domiciled in Texas, the law of that state would determine the validity of a divorce obtained by its domiciliaries in Mexico. However, comity is a matter for the courts of the jurisdiction in which recognition of a decree of a foreign country is sought. 27B C.J.S. Divorce § 329 at 791, Note 47². Accordingly, this Court will look first to the Alabama decisions. The courts of Texas and Alabama are in accord and, as will presently appear from the authorities cited, whether the validity of the divorce is tested by the Alabama decisions or by those of Texas, the end result will be the same.

It is a general rule that the courts will not recognize a divorce obtained in a foreign country if neither of the parties was domiciled in that country, primarily for the reason that the foreign court does not have jurisdiction of the marital status of the persons involved, which is a jurisdiction separate and distinct from jurisdiction over the persons themselves. The rule that a domicile of at least one of the parties is essential applies, even though a domicile is not required by the law of the jurisdiction granting the divorce. 22 Am.Jur.2d § 965 at 1101. This is the law in Alabama as well as in Texas and New Mexico. Wells v. Wells, 230 Ala. 430, 161 So. 794; In re Keen's Estate, 77 S.W.2d 588 (Tex.Civ.App.); Richmond v. Sangster, 217 S.W. 723 (Tex.Civ.App.); and Golden v. Golden, 41 N.M. 356, 68 P.2d 928.

In the Wells case the court stated:

"We note that the proceedings in the Mexico court do not recite that Mr. Wells was a resident of that republic. But had it done so, since that recital is of a fact essential to the jurisdiction of that court, it may be contradicted in this suit to show that the decree there rendered was null and void." (Emphasis supplied.)

In In re Keen's Estate the court quoted in support of its decision the very succinct language employed by the court in German Savings & Loan Society v. Dormitzer, 192 U.S. 125, 24 S.Ct. 221, 48 L.Ed. 373, as follows:

"A decree of divorce may be impeached collaterally in the courts of another state by proof that the court granting it had no jurisdiction because of the plaintiff's want of domicil, even when the record purports to show such jurisdiction and the appearance of the other party." (Emphasis by Texas court.)

In Golden, the New Mexico Supreme Court, in holding a Mexican divorce invalid, said:

"The decree which the Mexican court undertook to grant in the case at bar is wholly invalid. There is no claim that either Golden or his wife ever resided for any length of time, or had their marital domicile, in Mexico. Every fact in the case shows that Golden had no intention at any time of residing in Mexico, notwithstanding he registered as a resident of the state."

In the early case of Thompson v. State, 28 Ala. 12, at 21, the court made the following pronouncement:

"If the defendant did not go to Arkansas animo manendi, or, if he went to that State merely for the purpose of obtaining a divorce, and intending to remain no longer than was necessary to accomplish his purpose, or, if the divorce was procured by fraud, the decree of the Arkansas court would be void, * * *."³

Texas adheres to the same rule. See Richmond, s...