Spearman v. Spearman – Bigamy – Legal Status of Spouses
Spearman v. Spearman, 482 F.2d 1203 (5th Cir. 1973).
NATURE OF THE CASE: This family law case involved the issue of determining the legal status of both spouses of a bigamist.
FACTS: At the time of his death, Edward Spearman held an insurance policy from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company for $10,000. The policy provided that if no beneficiary were designated the proceeds were to be paid to the widow of the insured. The policy in this case did not name a beneficiary and both parties claimed to be his widow and sought to collect the proceeds of the policy.
Mary Spearman married the insured on October 2, 1946, in Russell County, Alabama. Viva Spearman married insured on June 7, 1962, in Monterey County, California. The trial court found in favor of the first wife as the second did not establish that the first wife’s marriage to the insured had been terminated by either divorce or annulment. The second wife appealed.
ISSUE: Under California law, how is the legal marital status determined of each spouse of an alleged bigamist?
RULE OF LAW: Under California law, the first spouse has the initial burden of proof to establish that her marriage has not been dissolved. The burden of persuasion then shifts to the second wife to establish that the first marriage had been dissolved. Otherwise, the first wife is deemed to have established her status as the lawful wife.
HOLDING AND DECISION: The first wife must establish that her marriage had not been dissolved by death, divorce, or annulment at the time of the second marriage. To rebut the presumption in favor of the second marriage, the first spouse need examine the records of only those jurisdictions in which either she or her husband have been domiciled.
If the first wife shows that an examination of the pertinent records of such jurisdictions and all of the available evidence demonstrate that her marriage remains undissolved, the burden of demonstrating the invalidity of the first marriage then shifts to the second spouse. Unless the second wife then can establish that her husband’s first marriage has been dissolved, the first wife qualifies as the lawful widow.
Even if the second wife cannot qualify as the insured’s widow, she may nevertheless be entitled to one-half of the proceeds of the life insurance policy as insured’s “putative spouse.” A putative spouse is one whose marriage is legally invalid but who has engaged in a marriage ceremony or otherwise has a good faith belief in the validity of the marriage. The essential basis of such marriage is the belief that it is valid. A putative spouse is entitled to the same share in the property as the legal spouse under the community property laws.
DISPOSITION: Affirmed.