Case Name: Lolan BEERS, Appellant, v. The PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST OF DADE COUNTY, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1985-03-12
Citations: 468 So. 2d 995
Docket Number: No. 84-780
Parties: Lolan BEERS, Appellant, v. The PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST OF DADE COUNTY, Appellee.
Judges: Before NESBITT, BASKIN and FERGU- . SON, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 468
Pages: 995–1004

Head Matter:
Lolan BEERS, Appellant, v. The PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST OF DADE COUNTY, Appellee.
No. 84-780.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
March 12, 1985.
On Rehearing May 21, 1985.
Jonas & Jonas and Daniel Jonas, Miami Beach, for appellant.
Hayt, Hayt & Landau and Sean L. Fisher and Alan M. Fisher, Miami, and Ned Kim-melman, Miami, for appellee.
Before NESBITT, BASKIN and FERGU- . SON, JJ.

Opinion:
NESBITT, Judge.
Lolan Beers, defendant below, appeals a summary final judgment entered in favor of the plaintiff, the Public Health Trust of Dade County, for claimed medical expenses incurred by Beers' deceased wife. We reverse.
Beers and the decedent were married on December 9, 1976. In September 1978, Beers' wife, with no forewarning to her husband, left their marital home and moved in with her cousin. Although Beers attempted to locate his wife on numerous occasions, he did not become aware of her whereabouts until she entered Jackson Memorial Hospital on November 3, 1978. Beers' wife remained in the hospital through November 12,1978, when she died. During her stay in the hospital, Beers' wife received medical services and supplies with an alleged value of $4,785.04.
The plaintiff, the owner and operator of the hospital, brought suit against Beers for the medical expenses incurred by his wife during her final illness. The cause of action was based upon the common law duty of a husband to support his wife and the derivative liability of a husband for his wife's necessaries. Beers responded by filing an answer which raised the defense of abandonment. After a hearing on cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court entered a summary final judgment for the plaintiff, implicitly finding that Beers' abandonment defense was without merit as a matter of law. This appeal followed.
It is undisputed that as a general rule a husband is liable to a third party who supplies necessaries, including medical expenses, to his wife. Phillips v. Sanchez, 35 Fla. 187, 17 So. 363 (1895); Parkway General Hospital, Inc. v. Stern, 400 So.2d 166 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Manatee Convalescent Center, Inc. v. McDonald, 392 So.2d 1356 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980); Holiday Hospital Association v. Schwarz, 166 So.2d 493 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964). This liability arises where the husband has a duty to furnish the necessaries to his wife and he fails in this duty. Schwarz, 166 So.2d at 495. The common law duty of a husband to supply necessaries to his wife arises from the marital relationship, Stern; see Fieldhouse v. Public Health Trust of Dade County, 374 So.2d 476 (Fla.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1062, 100 S.Ct. 1003, 62 L.Ed.2d 745 (1980), and is solely for the benefit of the wife, not for the benefit of the third-party creditor furnishing the necessaries. Schwarz, 166 So.2d at 495.
This general rule of liability of the husband, however, is subject to exceptions where the husband and wife are not living together. As will be further detailed below, when a wife has left her husband, through no fault of his, the husband's common law duty of support is terminated. Where this duty is terminated, the hus band's liability for the wife's necessaries is likewise terminated. The well-settled law in this area has been stated as follows:
In the absence of an agreement by a husband living apart from his wife to pay for goods or services furnished her, his liability for necessaries furnished her is dependent on his duty of support. Such liability cannot exist where the circumstances of the separation are such that the duty of support cannot exist, and it terminates when the circumstances become such, after a separation, that the duty of support terminates. Whether the duty and liability exist in any particular case of separation depends on the circumstances at the time the necessaries are furnished. One dealing with a wife who lives apart from her husband trusts to her representations at his peril, since the liability of the husband arises, not from her representations or the credit given to them, but from evidence of facts on which the law imposes the liability.
Generally, the husband is not liable for necessaries furnished his wife when he fails to support her where such necessaries are furnished her at a time when they are living apart through her fault. Thus, he incurs no liability when his wife leaves him without his assent and without justification....
The rule that the husband is under no liability for necessaries furnished his wife while they are living apart through her fault applies generally, irrespective of the knowledge of the facts and circumstances of her fault by the one furnishing her with the necessaries. The husband is not required to give notice to the public to save himself from liability, [footnotes omitted]
41 Am.Jur.2d Husband and Wife § 355, 357 (1968). Accord Schwarz. See also Annot., 60 A.L.R.2d 7 (1958). Thus, where the spouses are living apart through the wife's fault, the husband is generally not liable for medical services rendered the wife. See Schwarz, 166 So.2d 496-97. The plaintiff has cited no cases, and we have found none that have applied a different rule. In addition, we find support for the rule that a husband is not liable for an abandoning spouse's necessaries in a corollary area of law that has been established in Florida.
As previously indicated, a husband's liability for necessaries supplied to his wife arises out of his common law duty to support his wife during the marriage. Therefore, that area of law dealing with a husband's duty to support his wife and a wife's right to temporary alimony while the couple is living apart is particularly relevant here. See generally 41 Am.Jur.2d Husband and Wife § 329-86 (1968). The pivotal decision in this area was rendered by the supreme court in Floyd v. Floyd, 91 Fla. 910, 108 So. 896 (1926).
In Floyd, the court held that before a wife could be awarded temporary alimony, it must be established both that the wife has a need for such support and that the husband has the ability to supply the support. The court then recognized that the decision of whether to grant or withhold temporary alimony was within the discre tion of the trial court, but that the discretion was not an arbitrary one and it must be exercised in accordance with established rules of law. 108 So. at 898. One of those rules of law specifically addressed in Floyd concerned the defense of abandonment.
The wife, in Floyd, petitioned the court for temporary alimony and suit money pending the outcome of the divorce action brought by her husband. The husband objected and raised the defense of abandonment and 'the fact that the wife did not need such an award. Despite these defenses the chancellor awarded the wife temporary alimony. The supreme court reversed:
The record shows that [the wife] has, from the date of her marriage to [her husband], lived in a foreign state apart from him; the reason therefor not being satisfactorily explained. [The husband] alleges that such residence has been without his fault; that he has often furnished her money to come to Florida; that she has ample means and income to conduct her defense. If these allegations, or either of them, are true, the petition for temporary alimony and solicitor's fees was not "well founded. "
[I]t was the duty of the chancellor to determine these issues, and, if one or both of them were found in favor of [the husband], the petition for temporary alimony should have been denied.
108 So. at 899. The court specifically held that abandonment by a wife of her husband, without cause, is a complete bar to any right she may have to temporary alimony. 108 So. at 898-99. Since the court recognized that temporary alimony arises out of the common law duty of support, the court implicitly held that a wife's abandonment of her husband dissolves the husband's common law obligation to support his wife. 108 So. at 898-99. See also Ross v. Ross, 431 So.2d 742 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Daniel v. Daniel, 243 So.2d 247, 248 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971) (on petition for rehearing); Bloom v. Bloom, 131 So.2d 27, 29 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961).
It necessarily follows that if it is established in the present case that Beers' wife abandoned him in September 1978, Beers' common law duty to support his wife was extinguished at that time. Since a husband's liability for his wife's necessaries, like a wife's right to temporary alimony, arises out of this common law duty, the extinguishment of the duty likewise extinguishes the liability for the necessaries. See Schwarz. It was therefore error for the trial court to grant a summary judgment for the plaintiff when Beers had raised the issue of abandonment.
Although Beers has characterized abandonment as an affirmative defense, it is not an affirmative defense in the classic sense. It is a defense only in the sense that Beers must raise the issue. See Annot., 60 A.L. R.2d 7, § 47 (1958). Once the abandonment issue is raised, the overwhelming majority of jurisdictions which have considered the issue hold that the burden shifts to the plaintiff-creditor to establish that the wife was justified or not at fault in leaving her husband. In other words, one who furnishes a wife with necessaries takes the risk of establishing a case against the husband, and the burden is on him to prove the existence of the elements of the husband's liability. To meet this burden when the husband and wife live apart, the plaintiff must establish that the separation is by mutual consent or that it was occasioned by the fault or misconduct of the husband. See 41 Am.Jur.2d Husband and Wife § 363 (1968) and cases cited; Annot., 60 A.L.R.2d 7, § 47 (1958) and cases cited. Cf. Floyd, 108 So. at 898 ("Where . a charge [of abandonment] is asserted by the husband in defense of the wife's application for temporary alimony, the temporary alimony sought will be denied, unless a sufficient showing is made by the wife in refutation of such charge.").
Our decision today does not affect, and is not affected by, Florida's so-called "no fault divorce law." See Ch. 61, Fla.Stat. (1983). A husband's liability for his wife's necessaries arises from the common law duty of a husband to support his wife. The common law duty has not been replaced or altered by the Florida legislature. Cf. Fieldhouse (finding section 708.10, Florida Statutes (1977), constitutional, and holding that the statute does not affect the common law duty of a husband to support his wife). Therefore, the common law remains intact in this area.
In addition to abandonment, Beers raised as a defense that the plaintiff was unaware of Beers' wife's marital status and, thus could not have relied upon him to pay the bills. The record reflects that Beers and his wife were living apart when Beers' wife entered the hospital; it further reflects that Beers' wife entered the hospital under her maiden name. It appears on the record, therefore, that Beers may be able to assert the common law defense that services extended to a married woman based solely on her credit do not obligate her husband. See Runkel v. Southeast Palm Beach Hospital District, 453 So.2d 939 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984). Upon remand, Beers should be permitted to amend his pleading accordingly if he so desires.
Finding that summary judgment was improperly entered for the plaintiff, we reverse and remand this cause for further proceedings.
. Due to the facts of the instant case, we refer throughout this opinion to a husband's duty toward his wife concerning support and liability for necessaries. We recognize, however, that this duty is gender neutral in Florida. Hence, we note that this decision would be the same if the facts here were reversed and the plaintiff were attempting to impose liability on a wife for her husband's medical expenses. See Parkway General Hospital, Inc. v. Stern, 400 So.2d 166 (Fla. 3d DCA 1981); Manatee Convalescent Center, Inc. v. McDonald, 392 So.2d 1356 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980).
. The plaintiff relies on Stem for the proposition that one spouse is always liable for the other spouse's necessaries until a dissolution of the marriage occurs. See 400 So.2d at 167. In Stern, the plaintiff hospital was attempting to recover the hospitalization costs incurred by Mr. Stern from his wife, Mrs. Stern. The case is factually distinguishable in that no issue of abandonment was ever raised. The opinion does state that the only way Mrs. Stern could have averted her liability for the hospitalization costs was to have dissolved the marriage or prevented the illness which required the hospitalization. Although this may have been an overstatement of a spouse's liability for the necessaries of the other spouse, we need not consider the issue because our decision today is not inconsistent with that statement. The statement in Stem, relied upon by the plaintiff herein, indicates that the only affirmative action the wife could have taken to avoid liability was to have had the marriage dissolved. It does not indicate, however, that a spouse cannot raise a defense concerning the conduct of the other spouse, i.e., abandonment, or any other relevant defense. See Runkel v. Southeast Palm Beach Hospital District, 453 So.2d 939 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Schwarz.
. One case out of this district arguably supports a contrary view. In Novack v. Novack, 196 So.2d 499 (Fla. 3d DCA 1967), the court held that it would not be an abuse of discretion for the trial court to award a wife temporary alimony if she established her need therefor, despite the fact that the husband had asserted that she had abandoned him. Although the court distinguished Floyd by stating the facts were not similar, it does not indicate how they were dissimilar. 196 So.2d at 501. The case would seem to be in direct conflict with the supreme court holding in Floyd. The court specifically held in Floyd that when a husband charges his wife with abandonment in defense of a wife's application for temporary alimony, it is the duty of the court to resolve the issue, and if the wife does not sufficiently refute the charge, an award of temporary alimony is completely barred. 108 So. at 898-99. The court in Novack relied on the decision of Saunders v. Saunders, 183 So.2d 239 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966), for its ruling. Saunders, however, is arguably distinguishable in that the parties there waived the issue of abandonment when neither party offered or submitted any evidence on the matter. 183 So.2d at 242.
. The awarding of temporary alimony, which we have discussed in this opinion, is controlled by statute. See § 61.071, Fla.Stat. (1983). The only substantive change in the statute, however, since the supreme court decided Floyd is that it now allows a husband, as well as a wife, to seek relief from the other spouse. The present statute still requires, as did the law in 1926, that the application or petition for the award be "well founded." It is apparent, therefore, that the supreme court's decision in Floyd is still applicable to the statute as it exists today. But see supra note 3. The courts of this state have always recognized that one who abandons his or her spouse has no right to have the abandoned spouse support him or her. See Tigertail Quarries, Inc. v. Ward, 154 Fla. 122, 16 So.2d 812 (1944); Floyd; Thompson v. Thompson, 86 Fla. 515, 98 So. 589 (1923); Ross; Daniel; Schwarz; Stone v. Stone, 151 So.2d 301 (Fla. 3d DCA 1963); Bloom. Cf. Smith v. Smith, 378 So.2d 11, 15 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979) ("it might well be thought improper to permit an errant spouse to destroy a marriage and then to claim benefits equal to those which would have been provided had it remained intact"); accord Pitts v. Pitts, 412 So.2d 404, 405 n.1 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982).