Woltman v. Woltman

• Decision Date: 06 October 1922
• Docket Number: No. 23094.,23094.
• Citation: 189 N.W. 1022,153 Minn. 217
• Parties: WOLTMAN v. WOLTMAN.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

153 Minn. 217

189 N.W. 1022

WOLTMAN

v.WOLTMAN.

No. 23094.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Oct. 6, 1922.

Appeal from District Court, Ramsey County; Hanft, Judge.

Action by Marion Woltman against Henry L. Woltman. From an order sustaining demurrer to complaint, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

Syllabus by the Court

A wife cannot maintain an action against her husband to recover damages for his negligent tort. This right is not conferred on her by the Constitution or statutes of this state nor the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Kueffner & Marks, of St. Paul, for appellant.

Briggs, Weyl & Briggs, of St. Paul, for respondent.

HALLAM, J.

The complaint alleges that plaintiff and defendant are husband and wife and are living together, that they were riding together in an automobile, defendant driving the car, that through defendant's negligence the car overturned and plaintiff was injured. Plaintiff asks judgment against her husband for damages for the injury sustained. The trial court sustained defendant's demurrer to the complaint. Plaintiff appeals.

The sole question on this appeal is whether a wife may maintain an action against her husband to recover damages for his negligent tort. If the question were a new one it would lend itself to interesting discussion, for there is some diversity of opinion. We think, however, the question is not an open one in this state. In Strom v. Strom, 98 Minn. 427, 107 N. W. 1047,6 L. R. A. (N. S.) 191, 116 Am. St. Rep. 387, it was held that a married woman cannot maintain a civil action against her husband for a personal tort committed by him during coverture. This decision was approved in Drake v. Drake, 145 Minn. 388, 177 N. W. 624, 9 A. L. R. 1064, in which case it was held that a husband has no right of action against his wife to restrain the commission of personal torts against him. These cases were thoroughly considered and deliberately decided. The reasons for the decisions are fully stated. We think the decisions should be adhered to.

Plaintiff contends that section 7142, Gen. Stats. 1913, confers upon a wife the right to sue her husband in tort. This section reads as follows:

‘Women shall retain he same legal existence and legal personality after marriage as before, and every married woman shall receive the same protection of all her rights as a woman which her husband does as a man, including the right to appeal to the courts in her own name alone for protection or redress; but this section shall not confer upon the wife a right to vote or hold office, except as is otherwise provided by law.'

This statute was fully considered in the...