Family Law Commons^™

Trusts And Estates - Relationship By Affinity-Meaning Of The Word "Stepchild" In A Tax Statute, Harold S. Lentz S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A widower with two children married Sarah Bordeaux and predeceased her. A child of the marriage died in infancy. The two children were raised by Sarah as if she had been their natural mother. A strong filial relationship developed, and at the death of Sarah in 1949, the bulk of her property passed to the two children by will. The inheritance tax division of the tax commission contended that the relationship by affinity had been terminated and that the children, no longer being "stepchildren," were not entitled to the lower tax rates under Class A of the inheritance tax statute …

Torts-Right Of Unemancipated Minor To Recover Prom Parent For Intentional Tort, William O. Allen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a child four years of age, was present when her mother was murdered by her father, defendant's intestate. After keeping plaintiff with the corpse for six days, the father drove plaintiff to his home, where he committed suicide in plaintiff's presence. Plaintiff brought an action against the father's estate for shock, mental anguish, and resulting physical injuries, caused by the father's atrocious acts. The trial court sustained defendant's demurrer on the. ground that a minor has no right of action in tort against its parent. On appeal, held, reversed. A minor may maintain an action against its parent …

Committee Of The Association Of American Law Schools: Selected Essays On Family Law, Hobart Coffey

Michigan Law Review

A Review of SELECTED ESSAYS ON FAMILY LAW. Compiled and Edited by a Committee of the Association of American Law Schools.

Conflicts Of Law-Divorce-Canadian Choice Of Law, Paul M.D. Harrison S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

When the problem confronting the judge is one of recognizing a divorce decree awarded by a foreign state, then once again the domiciliary concept will be used to determine the jurisdictional competency of the court making the award. The foreign divorce decree will be accepted as lawful and proper if it was given by the court of the husband's domicile or if the decree is one which would be accepted as valid by that court. The authority underlying the latter proposition originates in the case of Armitage v. Attorney-General. It is the purpose of this comment to examine briefly …

Operative Relationships Among Various Courts, Law Enforcement And Welfare Agencies In The City Of Detroit, Maxine Boord Virtue

Michigan Law Review

This article is the seventh chapter of a book, Survey of Metropolitan Courts: Detroit Area, which is being published this year by the Michigan Legal Series. It was prepared by this writer as a Research Associate in the employ of the Law School of the University of Michigan, under the supervising editorship of Professor Edson R. Sunderland. The study was undertaken at the request of the Committee on Judicial Administration in Metropolitan Trial Courts, appointed by the Section on Judicial Administration of the American Bar Association, of which committee Ira W. Jayne, Presiding Judge of the Circuit Court of …

Federal Estate And Gift Taxation-Adequacy Of Consideration In Transfers Connected With Divorce Proceedings Or Separation Agreements, Joseph G. Egan S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Today it is common procedure for a husband and wife, contemplating divorce or separation, to make an advance agreement concerning alimony and division of their property. Often this agreement will be adopted by the court in its decree of separation or divorce. It is the purpose of this comment to discuss the estate and gift tax consequences of such agreements. In order to understand properly the problems which have come up in connection with gift tax liability, it is necessary first to chart out the path taken under the estate tax.

Torts-Family Relationship-Child's Right To Recover For Enticement Of Parent From Home, William H. Lowery

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a six year old girl, sued to recover damages alleged to have been sustained as a result of defendant's enticing her mother from the family home. Plaintiff contended that as a child and member of the family she had a legally protected right to maintenance of the family relationship. Defendant answered that no tort had been committed, since no right in the plaintiff was recognized at common law and that to recognize such a right would amount to judicial legislation. From a judgment in favor of plaintiff, defendant appealed. Held, affirmed. Allowing a child a right of action …

Divorce-Separation For Statutory Period As A Ground Of Divorce Regardless Of Fault, William R. Hewitt S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

H sued W for a divorce on the statutory grounds that the parties had lived apart without cohabitation for ten years. The facts showed that the separation was caused by the willful abandonment of W by H and that H had lived in adultery after the separation and had not contributed to W's support since the separation. The trial court denied the divorce. On appeal, held, reversed. Where H and W have lived apart for the statutory period without cohabitation, H was entitled to the divorce regardless of the cause of the original separation and regardless of his …

Coming Into Equity With Clean Hands, Zechariah Chafee, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The preceding article proposed to examine eighteen differing groups of cases which are commonly supposed to present the clean hands doctrine as a maxim of equity, and then proceeded to consider eight such groups. Ten groups still require attention. The first five of those already considered fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of equity, and the next three within the concurrent jurisdiction, which is continued for a considerable part of the present article. After discussing suits for specific performance of unfair contracts and of illegal contracts, I dealt with miscellaneous tort suits by a person charged with crime. We now turn …

Conflict Of Laws-Domicile Of Child Living With Mother, Charles E. Becraft S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff and defendant, husband and wife, were domiciled in New York. Because of temporary unemployment, plaintiff took his wife and minor child to Connecticut. He later returned to New York and resided in the apartment the family had formerly occupied. The wife and child did not return to New York, and the court found that she had at all times intended to remain in Connecticut and establish a domicile there. Plaintiff at all times intended to make New York his permanent residence. When defendant would not return to New York, plaintiff brought action for separation in a New York court, …

Adoption - Right Of Inheritance In Absence Of Legal Adoption-Specific Performance Of Contract To Adopt And Other Remedies, James C. Mordy

Michigan Law Review

Adoption was unknown at common law. Modern statutes permitting adoption are largely derived from Roman ideas, which were introduced into this country first through the civil law of Louisiana and later by statutes, beginning with Massachusetts in 1851.

Under the English common law, the only persons capable of inheriting property were blood relations of the deceased. On the other hand, most modern adoption statutes permit inheritance by adopted children equally with natural children. Adoption being purely statutory, the early cases denied the right of inheritance by supposedly adopted children when the statute was not strictly followed. Though still purporting to …

Equity-Divorce And Separation-Wife's Agreement Not To Claim Alimony As Defense To Later Action For Arrears, Melvin J. Spencer

Michigan Law Review

In a prior action against H for separate maintenance, W was awarded custody of their children and monthly maintenance of $50. She later lived openly with X, adopted his name, and had a child by him. Some of the children left W during their minority and lived with H. The maintenance payments were discontinued when W told H that she would no longer receive them. Four years after payments ceased, W unsuccessfully moved the federal district court to adjudge H guilty of contempt and to award her a money judgment for the past-due installments. Held, judgment for …

Illegal Conditions And Limitations: Effect Of Illegality, Olin L. Browder, Jr

Michigan Law Review

IN earlier articles the writer undertook to explore that miscellaneous and somewhat neglected field of law in which public policy is held to nullify the efforts of persons to impose certain types of conditions and limitations on dispositions of their property.' Such provisions most commonly take the form either of conditions subsequent or executory limitations, but occasionally appear as conditions precedent or special limitations. Unlike provisions which run afoul of the rule against perpetuities or the rules against restraints on alienation, the provisions in question usually prescribe conduct on the part of beneficiaries which is not directly related to the …

Conflict Of Laws-Jurisdictional Basis For Awarding Custody Of Minor Child, Charles E. Becraft S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff and his wife, domiciliaries of California, separated June 3, 1946. On Oct. 25, 1946, the wife took the minor child of the marriage to Nevada where she commenced proceedings to obtain a divorce. On Feb. 4, 1947, a final decree awarded her a divorce and custody of the child. She remarried and moved to Utah where she and the child have lived ever since. On Jan. 2, 1947, the plaintiff filed a petition in California asking for a divorce and custody of the child. On July 8, 1947, plaintiff applied for an order pendente lite to award him custody …

Taxation-Income Tax-Deductions For Alimony Payments Made Under Voluntary Agreement Of Separation, William R. Hewitt S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Taxpayer and his wife voluntarily entered into a written agreement of separation. Pursuant to the agreement, taxpayer made periodic payments to his wife in discharge of his legal obligation of support. In his income tax return for 1943, taxpayer took the amount of tlie payments made for that year as a deduction from gross income under the authority of section 23(u) of the Internal Revenue Code. The commissioner disallowed the deduction and determined a tax deficiency. Upon petition to the Tax Court for a redetermination of the deficiency, the commissioner was upheld. On appeal, held, affirmed. Only alimony payments …

Conflict Of Laws-Application Of Estoppel To Invalid Divorces-Mexican "Mail Order" Divorce, Charles E. Becraft S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff and defendant, who wished to marry, persuaded defendant's wife to agree to a Mexican "mail order" divorce. The spouses executed and delivered powers of attorney to counsel residing in Mexico, where a divorce was granted and the decree mailed back to New York. Neither of the parties went to Mexico, nor did the decree of the Mexican court recite presence or domicile of either spouse. Upon learning that the decree had been granted, plaintiff and defendant were married in Virginia and then returned to New York, their state of domicile. In 1946, the plaintiff commenced this action, asking for …

Future Interests-Construction Of "Surviving" In Substitutionary Gift Of Remainder, J. R. Mackenzie S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Testator's will provided that his property should go to his wife W for life, then in equal shares to his sister A and his brothers B and C. The language used was appropriate to create vested remainders in A, B and C. The will then provided, "And in case of the death of my said sister or either of my said brothers before the death of my said wife, the share that he or she would have taken shall be divided equally between his or her surviving children, by right of representation." A and B died before testator; …

Taxation-Income Tax-Validity Of Family Partnership Where Partner's Services Are To Be Performed In Future, Daniel W. Reddin, Iii S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In 1939, petitioner sold certain ranch properties and half of his herd of blooded cattle to his four sons, accepting their notes in return. A firm consisting of petitioner and his sons was then formed, and a bank account was opened upon which any of the members of the firm could draw. Two of the sons were minors, but all were ranch-reared and experienced in cattle raising. The sons paid part of the notes with their shares in the proceeds from firm sales, and petitioner forgave the rest. Military duty disrupted the plan by which all the sons were to …

Domestic Relations - Statutory Abolition Of Certain Causes Of Action, George A. Rinker S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

ln response to widespread and vigorous criticism of the abuses practiced through the use of the action at law for breach of promise to marry, and to a lesser extent, the actions for alienation of affections, criminal conversation, and seduction, several states enacted legislation designed to eliminate the evils complained of by abolishing some or all of those causes of action. The purpose of the present discussion is to analyze and compare the various statutes, and to indicate how they have fared in the courts; in short, to survey the whole reform program as it stands twelve years after the …

Witnesses-Dead Man Statutes-Competence Of Spouse Of Party Or Interested Person-Effect Of Divorce, James E. Tobin S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The "Dead Man" statutes, enacted in various forms in almost every state, generally forbid a party or person interested to testify in an action involving a decedent's estate. As is well known, these statutes are the lone survival of the common law rule disqualifying parties and persons interested as witnesses in all actions, a rule which has otherwise been universally repudiated because of the realization that pecuniary interest does not necessarily raise any large probability of falsehood and that, even if it did, the risks of admitting such testimony can easily be minimized and are far outweighed by the advantages …

Taxation -Family Partnerships-Capital "Originating" With The Wife, Bayard E. Heath S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In 1937 petitioner, P, gave his wife and sister each $2500 worth of stock in X Corporation. In 1940 he and A formed a partnership unrelated to the business of X corporation. Later in the year they decided to incorporate this partnership. Meanwhile, P desired to obtain all of the stock of X in order to take advantage of an opportunity to sell it to other interests at a substantial profit. His wife and sister gave him their shares in X for his promise to give them shares in the new corporation formed from the partnership of P and …

Taxation--Income Tax--Nondeductible Losses--Intra-Family Transactions, Bayard E. Heath S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner managed his wife's as well as his own estate. On several occasions, to establish tax losses, he ordered his broker to sell certain stock on the Stock Exchange for his account, and then to buy the same number of shares of the same stock for his wife's account. Petitioner claimed losses derived from these sales when filing his income tax return, but the commissioner disallowed these deductions on the authority of section 24 (b) of the Internal Revenue Code. On the taxpayer's application to the Tax Court, it held section 24 (b) inapplicable. The circuit court of appeals reversed …

Community Property-Constitutionality Of The Pennsylvania Community Property Act, Richard J. Archer

Michigan Law Review

After the effective date of the Pennsylvania Community Property Act the husband used income from his separate property to pay part of an advance installment on a life insurance policy acquired before the act. He afterward assigned the policy to the plaintiff. The insurance company refused to recognize the validity of the assignment without the wife's consent on the basis that the income from separate property became community property so as to give the wife an interest in the policy. The Pennsylvania Community Property Act provided, inter alia, that: (1) the separate property of each spouse shall consist of that …

Statute Of Frauds-Extinguishment Of Beneficial Interest In Constructive Trust In Land, Richard J. Archer

Michigan Law Review

In order to increase borrowing capacity the husband conveyed several parcels of land to his wife so as to establish a separate credit for her; parol evidence indicated that the conveyance was for the use of the husband. Subsequently their relations became estranged, and the husband attempted a parol surrender of the parcels to his wife. The New Jersey Statute of Frauds is the counterpart of the English Statute requiring the creation of an express trust to be manifested and proved by writing but excluding from the requirement of writing creations, transfers, or extinguishments by operation of law. In a …

Some General Aspects Of Michigan Community Property Law, William E. Burby

Michigan Law Review

The common law, in recognition of the fact that one spouse is entitled to some economic security in the property of the other spouse, evolved the interests known as dower and curtesy. These interests, of course, apply only with respect to land. The husband enjoyed an additional economic advantage that came from the management and control of his wife's property. This latter advantage has disappeared with the advent of Married Women's Property Acts that confer upon married women the right to manage their own estates. Statutes have also expanded on the concept of dower and curtesy by providing for a …

Wills--Adopted Child As "Issue" Within Meaning Of Anti-Lapse Statute, George A. Rinker

Michigan Law Review

Testatrix, by her will, left the residue of her estate to her two sisters, their heirs and assigns forever. Appellee, an adopted daughter of one sister who predeceased testatrix, claimed one half of the residue by substitution under the Ohio anti-lapse statute. Held, an adopted child is "issue" within the meaning of the anti-lapse statute, which in terms provides that issue of a predeceased devisee will take. Appellee takes by substitution for her adoptive mother. Flynn v. Bredbeck, (Ohio 1946) 68 N.K (2d) 75.

Domestic Relations-Recent Developments (A Service For Returning Veterans), John S. Bradway

Michigan Law Review

During the past five years family life in America has been subjected to unusual strains. The repercussions of the war, as well as the usual peacetime factors, affecting the domestic circle have received attention of sociologists and lay writers. The legal implications have not made such prompt appearance in published form.

Information as to that part of the impact of family dislocation caused by war is available in many places, none the least important being the records in the offices of legal assistance officers in the armed forces, of the Committees on War Work set up by the American and …

Descent And Distribution--Illegitimate--Inheritance Through Father From Collateral Kindred Of Father--Indiana Statute, Joseph N. Morency, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Appeal by illegitimate from an adverse ruling in the trial court, presenting the question whether an illegitimate son, acknowledged by his father, can inherit a share of the estate of the father's sister who survived the father. Held, reversing the Appellate Court, although the statute grants to an acknowledged illegitimate the right to inherit from his father in the event that no legitimate children nor descendants of legitimate children survive the father, an illegitimate cannot inherit through his father from the father's sister. Phillips v. Townsend, (Ind. 1945) 62 N.E. (2d) 860.

A Comparative Study Of Conflict Of Laws: A Review Of Volume One, Elliott E. Cheatham

Michigan Law Review

This is a notable book. It is the first volume of a comparative study of conflict of laws, undertaken at the invitation of the American Law Institute and completed with the support of the University of Michigan Law School. The author, Dr. Rabel, is a man whose great learning has been tempered and made fruitful by a distinguished and varied career as lawyer and as judge on national and international tribunals, as director of an institute of comparative law and conflict of laws serving practical as well as scholarly aims, and as author and professor of law.

Family Partnerships Under The Income Tax, Yale A. Barkan

Michigan Law Review

The usual type of family partnership has the taxpayer operating or organizing a business, and giving or selling a portion of that business to his wife or children. The aim of the taxpayer is to divide his income among members of the family group. The profits are thus taxed to two or more individuals, rather than to the taxpayer alone. Recognition of these family partnerships for federal income tax purposes is just one aspect of the family income problem.