Thomas v. State, 47672

• Citation: 241 Iowa 1072,44 N.W.2d 410
• Decision Date: 17 October 1950
• Docket Number: No. 47672,47672
• Parties: THOMAS v. STATE et al.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 410

44 N.W.2d 410

241 Iowa 1072

THOMAS v. STATE et al.

No. 47672.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Oct. 17, 1950.

Robert L. Larson, Atty. Gen. of Iowa, of Des Moines, Charles F. O'Connor, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., G. L. Norman, Deputy County Attorney, Lee County, Keokuk, for appellants.

J. F. Hudson and Frank W. Oertel, Keokuk, for appellee.

MANTZ, Justice.

Plaintiff, Gillie Thomas, seeks to quiet title in and to certain real estate belonging to her situated in Lee County, Iowa, and to cancel a lien against the same claimed by the defendants, State of Iowa, and the State Board of Social Welfare, said lien being asserted by reason of old-age assistance furnished to Oliver Thomas, the husband of plaintiff. Plaintiff pleads that said lien is not a proper charge against her real estate; that its imposition violates the state and federal constitutions. The defendants assert that the old-age assistance furnished the husband of plaintiff under the statute is a valid lien against plaintiff's real estate. The trial court found in favor of the plaintiff holding that the asserted lien was not a valid charge against her real estate, and ordered it cancelled and held for naught. The court did not pass upon the constitutional question raised. Defendants have appealed.

I. There is no dispute in the facts--all are stipulated. Plaintiff and Oliver Thomas were husband and wife in February, 1947. They had been married for some years prior to 1942. Some time during that year they had separated and continued to live apart, but the marital status existed in 1947 and for some time thereafter. Sometime prior to February, 1947, Oliver Thomas made application for old-age assistance as provided by Chapter 249, Code of Iowa, 1946, I.C.A. Plaintiff knew of the application. After investigation said application was allowed and payments were made regularly to applicant, and were continued from that time until the plaintiff brought this action. After February, 1947, plaintiff acquired an interest in real estate in Lee County, Iowa. At the time the payments of the old-age assistance were begun, pursuant to the order authorizing the same, a copy of such order was indexed and recorded in the office of the County Recorder of Lee County, Iowa, in the manner required by section 249.20, Code of 1946, I.C.A.

The defendants' claim is that the old-age assistance furnished Oliver Thomas was a lien against plaintiff's real estate by reason of the provisions of Section 249.20 of Chapter 249, Code of 1946, I.C.A. Such section, so far as is material here, is as follows: 'In any event, the assistance furnished under this chapter shall be and constitute a lien on any real estate owned either by the husband or wife for assistance and funeral benefit furnished to either of such persons. Whenever an order is made for such assistance to any person, a copy of such order shall be indexed and recorded in the manner provided for the indexing of real-estate mortgages in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the recipient lives and in which the real estate belonging to the recipient or the spouse of such recipient is situated, and such recording and indexing shall constitute notice of such lien. * * *'

Such order was duly indexed and recorded.

II. That Oliver Thomas and Gillie Thomas were husband and wife during the time the old-age assistance was furnished the former stands conceded. There is no claim that he was not entitled to receive such assistance. Neither is there any claim that Oliver Thomas had deserted the plaintiff and the record has nothing to indicate the reason for their separation or which party was to blame therefor. The fact that Thomas and plaintiff lived apart would not raise any presumption that he had deserted her. So far as the record is concerned, there was nothing irregular in the proceedings whereby the old-age assistance was furnished. His wife knew of his application for old-age assistance and made no objection thereto.

The question then is: Were the payments made to Oliver Thomas a lien upon the real estate of his spouse, plaintiff herein? The trial court ruled that no such lien existed and quieted title thereto in plaintiff and ordered such asserted lien cancelled as regards such property. We are unable to agree with such ruling and decree.

III. In the finding of fact and conclusion of law the trial court stated that the facts had a 'lot of equitable appeal'. The court was of the opinion that during the time plaintiff and Oliver Thomas were separated the family relationship ceased to exist between them; that for all practical purposes the marriage between them had ceased to exist and that all that remained was the 'mere naked relationship' of husband and wife. The court further held that the old-age assistance furnished her husband was of no benefit to plaintiff and that as she was under no legal duty to support him there could be no valid lien placed upon her property for aid furnished to him.

The provisions of the Iowa statute relating to old-age assistance are set forth in Chapter 249 of the Code of 1946, I.C.A. Pars. 1, 2, and 3 of Section 249.1 of said chapter (subject, 'definitions') make reference to chapter 234 of said code. Section 234.6 defines the powers and duties of the State Board of Social Welfare. That board was vested with authority to administer old-age assistance, aid to the blind, aid to dependent children, child welfare, and emergency relief and any other form of public welfare assistance which might thereafter be placed under its administration. It empowered the board to administer statutes involving the welfare of those who were unfortunate, improvident, and unable to properly care for themselves.

It would seem that statutes having such beneficent purposes should be liberally construed and have the benefit of any reasonable presumption. Dickinson v. Porter, 240 Iowa 393, 35 N.W.2d 66. It is readily apparent from a reading of the provisions of said chapter that the objects and purposes therein contemplated are of high and prime importance along the lines of public welfare.

The existence and stability of the marital relation under our social system is of the highest importance. Consequently, the emphasis placed upon the family and its maintenance is significant. Each spouse is held liable for the expenses of such family. Sec. 597.14. See Vest v. Kramer, Iowa, 114 N.W. 886, 14 L.R.A.,N.S., 1032; Truax v. Ellett, 234 Iowa 1217, 15 N.W.2d 361; Sager, Sweet & Edwards v. Risk, 190 Iowa 207, 180 N.W. 299, 13 A.L.R. 1393; Johnson v. Barnes, 69 Iowa 641, 29 N.W. 759.

The rule as set forth in the foregoing cases and many others we might cite, is that the liability imposed upon the husband and wife is statutory and that it is to be so construed. Section 249.20, a part of which has been hereinbefore set forth, provides that where old-age assistance is furnished one spouse, it shall constitute a lien on any real estate owned either by the husband or wife for assistance and funeral benefit to either of such persons.

To indicate how solicitous the legislature was of old-age assistance recipients, it provided that the lien created could not be enforced while either of such was living. This, too, was statutory.

It seems to us that if the legislature has power to charge upon the property of the husband or wife the family expense, it would likewise have the power to declare the property of either husband or wife liable for old-age assistance. To pay old-age assistance to one spouse would certainly be a benefit to the other.

Such statute, Sec. 249.20, created a lien on the real estate of Gillie Thomas for such old-age assistance furnished during the time the marital relation existed between them. The language of the above quoted statute is clear and free from ambiguity. Consequently we see no reason for construction. See Offe v. State Board of Social Welfare, 238 Iowa 16, 25 N.W.2d 731; Palmer v. State Board, 226 Iowa 92, 283 N.W. 415; Jefferson Co. Farm Bureau v. Sherman, 208 Iowa 614, 226 N.W. 182; Fry v. Fry, 125 Iowa 424, 101 N.W. 144; Iowa-Illinois Gas & Electric Co. v. City of Bettendorf, Iowa, 41 N.W.2d 1.

In her printed brief the plaintiff argues that as the wife is not liable for the support of her husband, Section 249.20 cannot create a valid lien against her separate property.

In the face of the statutory declaration, Sec. 249.20, making the separate property of the spouse liable for assistance furnished her spouse during the existence of the marital relation we see no merit to such claim. Offe v. State Board, 238 Iowa 16, 25 N.W.2d 731.

IV. Plaintiff, in argument, sets out two propositions which she relies upon for affirmance. Both are denied by the defendants. They are as follows:

1. The wife is not liable for the support of her husband, either under the common law or the statutes of Iowa. There is, therefore, no legal basis on which to rest the asserted lien of the State of Iowa against the separate property of the plaintiff-appellee.

2. Section 249.20, Code of Iowa 1946, I.C.A., in so far as it attempts to create a lien against the wife's separate property for the assistance furnished the husband, is unconstitutional and void under sections 6, 9, and 18, of Article I of the Constitution of Iowa, I.C.A., and of Section I of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Section 6 refers to the necessity that laws must be of uniform operation; section 9 states that no person shall be deprived of property without due process of law. Section 18 relates to taking property by eminent domain. The 14th amendment to the constitution, so far as pertinent here, provides that no person shall be deprived of his property without due process of law.

We can see no merit to the claim of plaintiff as set out in the first proposition. It may be conceded that the statute does not in specific terms declare that the lien is for support to the spouse; it does declare any assistance...