Young v. Garcia
| Decision Date | 23 February 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 64-458,64-458 |
| Citation | 172 So.2d 243 |
| Parties | Robert YOUNG, Jr., and Allen Hertz, Appellants, v. Ana Celia Viruet de GARCIA, individually, as widow of Antonio Garcia, deceased, or alternatively as dependent of Antonio Garcia, deceased, and Rosita Garcia, Hector Garcia, Gladys Garcia and Irma Iris Garcia, minors, by their mother and next friend, Ana Celia Viruet de Garcia, Appellees. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Sherouse & Corlett; Richard M. Gale, and I. Stanley Levine, Miami, for appellants.
Nichols, Gaither, Beckham, Colson & Spence and Alan R. Schwartz, Miami, for appellees.
Before TILLMAN PEARSON, HORTON and HENDRY, JJ.
Plaintiff-appellee, the alleged widow of the decedent, brought action pursuant to § 768.02, Fla.Stat., F.S.A., to recover damages for decedent's wrongful death. The amended complaint sought damages under three alternative theories: first, plaintiff as the widow of the deceased, or second, the children qua children of the deceased, or third, plaintiff and the children as dependents of the deceased. Motions by defendants to dismiss and for summary judgment were denied and at the trial, the judge ruled as a matter of law that plaintiff was the proper party to maintain the action. The case proceeded to final judgment in favor of the plaintiff from which this appeal is taken.
Section 768.02, supra, provides:
'Every such action shall be brought by and in the name of the widow or husband, as the case may be, and where there is neither widow nor husband surviving the deceased, then the minor child or children may maintain an action; and where there is neither widow nor husband, nor minor child or children, then the action may be maintained by any person or persons dependent on such person killed for a support * * *.'
The basic issue involved is whether the plaintiff, a resident of and domiciled in Puerto Rico, may be considered a widow in contemplation of § 768.02, supra, where (1) she and decedent were never ceremonially married; (2) she and decedent never lived together in Florida; and (3) she and decedent lived together only in Puerto Rico, which jurisdiction does not recognize common law marriages.
It has been generally held that in actions for wrongful death the law of the place of the injury applies. Rositzky v. Rositzky, 329 Mo. 662, 46 S.W.2d 591. This principle has been applied to determine who has standing to bring the action, or in other words, what 'status' a plaintiff must have with regard to the decedent. Rositzky v. Rositzky, supra. However, what law is applied to determine whether or not the plaintiff does in fact have the requisite status is not quite so clear. 92 A.L.R.2d 1146. Whether we apply Florida law or Puerto Rico law to the issue of plaintiff's status, we reach the result that she is not decedent's widow. The Florida rule and the general rule with regard to marriage is that the validity of a marriage is determined by the law of the state where the contract of marriage takes place. Goldman v. Dithrich, 131 Fla. 408, 179 So. 715. The undisputed facts in this case disclose that plaintiff and decedent, both Puerto Rican domiciliaries, lived together in Puerto Rico but were never ceremonially married. It is conceded that Puerto Rico does not recognize common law marriages. Since the alleged marriage was invalid where celebrated, it is similarly invalid in Florida. Goldman v....
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Hopkins v. Lockheed Aircraft Corp.
...(Puerto Rico) and Florida, which was the forum as well as the place-of-wrong state. A similar situation existed in Young v. Viruet de Garcia, Fla.App.1965, 172 So.2d 243. In Astor, we declined In view, then, of the frequently announced and strongly worded policy of this court to give primar......
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Smith v. Heckler
...would recognize such a marriage if it were considered valid in Alabama, where the relationship was established. Young v. Viruet de Garcia, 172 So.2d 243 (Fla.1965). Alabama courts have stated that "[w]hen the relation between a man and a woman living together is illicit in its commencement,......
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Longbottom v. Swaby
...recited a contention of plaintiffs that decedent was their father and that they were dependent upon him for support. In Young v. Garcia, 172 So.2d 243 (Fla.Ct.App.1965), relied on by appellants for their argument that illegitimate children are not "children" within the statute, the minor pl......
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Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Lucas, Civ. A. No. 90-230-2-MAC (WDO).
...the validity of a claimed marriage by the laws of the state where the common-law marriage allegedly took place. Young v. Viruet de Garcia, 172 So.2d 243 (Fla.1965) (citing Goldman v. Dithrich, 131 Fla. 408, 179 So. 715 In Young, the Florida District Court of Appeal examined the laws of Puer......