Family Law Commons^™

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.

The Present Status Of "Illusory" Trusts-The Doctrine On Newman V. Dore Brought Down To Date, Edward A. Smith

Michigan Law Review

It has long been the policy of the law to provide for a widow by setting aside some portion of her deceased husband's estate for her future support. Such a policy, it has been said, dates back to the laws of Hammurabi and later evidences of it may. be found in the Justinian Code of the Roman Law, and in English law from the earliest times; its final manifestation being in the well-known common law dower. It is not with dower, however, that we are here concerned, for that institution is sufficiently well understood to require no discussion in this …

Construction Of Private Instruments Where Adopted Children Are Concerned: Ii, J. Wesley Oler

Michigan Law Review

Thus far in the discussion the attempt has been to consider a number of common terms of general designation, such as "children," "issue," and "heirs," detached from other language with which they may be found and disassociated from the circumstances under which they may be used, with a view to estimating their intrinsic significance in resolving questions as to the effect of adoption upon the identification of persons designated by them. The examination from this point: of view could lead to the deduction that in themselves the particular terms of designation furnished varying degrees of assistance to the interpreter of …

Construction Of Private Instrument's Where Adopted Children Are Concerned: I, J. Wesley Oler

Michigan Law Review

The institution of adoption is of ancient tradition, knowing primitive origin and tracing its history through many civilizations. Today its universality still bespeaks the human needs from which it springs.

Recent growth of statutory reforms, procedural and substantive, in our adoption system reflects the increasing social interest of the state in this field. Procedurally, extensive strides have been made to safeguard those directly concerned in adoption, and through them to protect the public in general. Substantively the lagging but nonetheless noticeable trend is toward complete legal equivalence between relationship by adoption and relationship by blood. At present, however, such equivalence …

Husband And Wife--Memorandum On The Mississippi Woman's Law Of 1839, Elizabeth Gaspar Brown

Michigan Law Review

In retrospect, it seems a logical development that married women in the United States should have acquired substantial legal equality with men. The conditions of pioneer life, the relatively high sentimental value placed upon women, the increasing degree of social and domestic freedom which American women enjoyed-all were incompatible with the strict theories of the common law which placed a married woman and her property under the absolute control of her husband.

The Bones Of Haddock V. Haddock, Harold Wright Holt

Michigan Law Review

It would not be fitting to say in the language of the stage that Williams v. North Carolina has drawn the curtain on Haddock v. Haddock. Rather we will shift the metaphor to say that the recent case from North Carolina has largely stripped the flesh from the earlier decision. Yet the bones of Haddock v. Haddock remain unbleached and unpulverized. Just as persons with mechanical turn of mind may frame from blocks of wood puzzles of readjustment and resetting, so courts in states that do not favor free and easy termination of marriage may still find in the …

Husband And Wife-Antenuptial Contracts, B. Bernard Wolson

Michigan Law Review

Prior to the enactment of the statute of uses the wife's dower could not be bargained away. Thus dower constituted a clog upon alienation. Antenuptial contracts therefore were not recognized. However, with the passing of the statute of uses, jointures came into existence as means of barring dower and making alienation free. Jointures were of two kinds, viz., legal and equitable. As the law developed in England both types were recognized; but as the law developed in the United States, statutes were enacted specifically providing for jointures and antenuptial contracts. Our courts generally considered them as equitable in nature. These …

Divorce - Alimony - Enforcement And Interpretation Of Foreign Decree For Payment Of Alimony In Installments, David Davidoff

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought suit in Georgia to enforce a final divorce decree obtained by her husband in Florida. The decree granted plaintiff $30 a week for the support of herself and three minor children placed in her custody. It further provided that if the plaintiff should remarry, the weekly payments should be reduced to $22.50, and that when any child married or reached maturity, the weekly payments should be reduced $7.50 for each such child. Plaintiff sought to recover $30 per week for 129 weeks. Her husband claimed that plaintiff should recover only $7.50 per week for her own support because …

Conditions And Limitations In Restraint Of Marriage, Olin Browder Jr.

Michigan Law Review

From ancient times it has been a practice of testators to provide for the termination of a devised estate upon the marriage of the devisee, or to make their gifts conditional upon a beneficiary's marrying in a prescribed manner. In this way, a parent may hope to extend beyond his death his influence over recalcitrant or irresponsible offspring. But restraints on marriage may have other purposes. More often than not, a testator, by limiting an estate until marriage or by providing for forfeiture upon marriage, may merely seek to assure the maintenance of a female beneficiary until a husband assumes …

Husband And Wife-Wife's Right To Recover For Loss Of "Consortium" Due To Injury To Husband From Wrongful Sale Of Liquor, William C. Whitehead

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued for loss of her right of consortium occasioned by the illness and death of her husband as a result of a sale of liquor by defendant in violation of a state statute. Defendant demurred on the ground that there was no cause of action granted by the statute for damages flowing from such an illegal sale. Held, an action for injury to the wife's right of consortium was available at common law. Swanson v. Ball, (S. D. 1940) 290 N. W. 482.

Any More Light On Haddock V. Haddock? The Problem Of Domicil In Divorce, Harold Wright Holt

Michigan Law Review

AT first glance it seems a work of foolhardiness or of supererogation to embark upon a rediscussion of any problems arising from Haddock v. Haddock. True, the decision of the majority of the Supreme Court in that case has not won wholehearted support from the bench or legal profession. True it is, also, that collusive divorces still flourish. These considerations alone might, perhaps, lead the reader to concede that it would not be unfruitful to speculate upon an eventual modification of some of the principles which the Court in that case approved. If, however, further justification is demanded of …

Injunctions - Power To Restrain Foreign Divorce Proceedings Declaratory Judgment As Adequate Legal Remedy, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff petitioned a New York court to restrain her husband from prosecuting an action for divorce in a Florida court, alleging that the parties were married in New York, had lived there as husband and wife for twelve years, were still residents of New York, and that the defendant's business was located in the state. The complaint also alleged that the defendant had abandoned the plaintiff without cause; that plaintiff could not bear the expense of defending the Florida action and, in the event of judgment, would lose her status as wife and her concomitant property rights. Held, this …

The Revision Of The Treaties Of Montevideo On The Law Of Conflicts, Ernst Rabel

Michigan Law Review

In its issue of July 1940, the Revista Juridica Argentina of Buenos Aires has published the new "Tratados de Derecho Internacional Privado" of Montevideo concluded in 1939 and 1940. We are grateful to this review for apprising us of a significant event in the field of international codification.

Appeal And Error - Bad Faith Of Counsel As A Basis For Granting A New Trial Where Fact That Defendant Was Insured Was Brought To Attention Of Jury, Raymond H. Rapaport

Michigan Law Review

It is generally agreed that the jury in a personal injury action should not be informed that the defendant is covered by indemnity insurance. The reasons for the rule are that the matter of insurance is irrelevant, and that the exposition of its existence is prejudicial. The jury is likely to grant more and larger verdicts for the plaintiff when it is known that an insurance company, rather than the individual defendant being tried, will have to pay the judgment. However, the fact that the defendant is insured reaches the jury in a multitude of ways. While direct evidence of …

Adoption - Effect On Adoption Proceeding Of Prior Consent Of Parent, Felicia I. Hmiel

Michigan Law Review

In 1923 the mother of an illegitimate child surrendered the child to the Children's Home Society and signed an agreement consenting to adoption by any parents chosen by the institution. In 1926 in an adoption proceeding, the child was adopted by the plaintiff's intestate with the society's consent, but with no consent of the mother other than that given in 1923. Upon the death of the intestate in 1936 the plaintiffs, the natural heirs at law, brought suit to set aside the adoption proceedings as being void for lack of parent's consent. Held, that the general consent given by …

Automobiles - Husband's Liability For Wife's Negligence While Driving Family Auto - "Family Errand" And "Family Purpose" Doctrines - Illinois Rule, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's automobile was damaged by collision with an automobile belonging to the defendant while being driven by defendant's wife who was on an errand to purchase a twenty-five cent Hallowe'en party dress for her daughter. The accident was caused by the negligence of the defendant's wife. The defendant, his wife, and their child were living together, and the wife's sole income was derived from her husband, and from this she was to provide clothing and meet other expenses for the child. The circuit court gave judgment of damages to the plaintiff and the defendant appeals. Held, the plaintiff could …

Marriage And Divorce - Power Of Court To Modify Decree For Alimony Or Property Settlement As Affected By Agreement Of The Parties, Roy L. Rogers

Michigan Law Review

Contracts settling the property interests of a husband and wife or providing for support of the wife or for both of these ends are no doubt valid in all jurisdictions where the parties may contract with each other if the purpose is not to facilitate divorce or future separation. Even at common law, separation agreements could be made, however, through the intervention of a trustee. If not invalid, the contract may ordinarily be enforced in an action on the promise. But, when a divorce is decreed, it is quite often the practice to incorporate in the divorce decree the provisions …

Marriage And Divorce - Gross Neglect Of Duty As A Ground For Divorce - Wife's Separate Employment Causing Neglect Of Household Duties, Oscar Freedenberg

Michigan Law Review

The husband, plaintiff in a divorce action, alleged that his wife's employment, against his will, caused her to become irritable, unpleasant and quarrelsome and to neglect her household tasks. Held, that the petition states a cause of action on the ground of gross neglect of duty or extreme cruelty under the Ohio statute, but that the proof fails to bear out the plaintiff's allegations. Winnard v. Winnard, 62 Ohio App. 351, 23 N. E. (2d) 977 (1939).