Opinion ID: 1156114
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: what is the legal effect of the death of the appellee on the divorce and pending appeal?

Text: The appellee died in a plane crash in Mexico on or about January 31, 1984. Appellant asks that the parties be restored to their pre-divorce status. She alleges that at all times that she has contested the court entering the decree of divorce and cites 12 O.S. 1981 § 1282 which states, inter alia: If an appeal be taken from a judgment granting or denying a divorce, that part of the judgment does not become final and take effect until the appeal is determined. Appellant maintains that no parts of the judgment entered by the trial court on August 31, 1983, or subsequent judgments of October 7, 1983, became final until the appeal is determined in this matter under the authority of 12 O.S. 1982.  (p. 53, brief-in-chief). Appellant urges this argument in support of her proposition that where appellant perfected an appeal of the validity of the granting of a divorce, and appellee dies thereafter, the Supreme Court should enter a finding, that the death of appellee pending appeal, prior to a final judgment, abates the divorce proceeding and restores the parties to pre-divorce status as husband and wife. (P. 52, brief in chief) We held above that the issue of the granting of the divorce was not an issue presented to and resolved by the trial court which is supported by the record and cannot be added as an issue on appeal in an amended petition in error. The divorce is final. The issue of the property settlement will be addressed in the next section of this opinion. A cause of action for a divorce is purely personal, and it has been held that such a cause of action terminates on the death of either spouse before the entry of the final decree. In effect, the trial court is deprived of its jurisdiction. If, on the other hand, the trial court has entered a decree, it has been held that the death of a spouse does not affect the matter. This court has held in Mabry v. Baird: [T]he death of a party to a divorce action prior to rendition of a final judgment therein terminates the status or relationship of marriage theretofore existing and leaves the parties as though the action had never been brought. Since we hold that the judgment of the trial court on April 7th, was a final judgment, the rule of law above announced and the authorities cited in support thereof by plaintiff have no application to the instant case. [5] In Chastain v. Posey this court citing the above in Mabry v. Baird with approval, concluded: [B]ut the divorce suit does not abate on the death of a party after final judgment is rendered... . [6] Also the cases are in accord in sustaining the proposition that where the decree of divorce affects the property rights of the parties, the death of a party pending the appeal from the decree or during the time allowed for appeal does not abate the appeal, and the appellate court may review and determine the correctness of the decree insofar as such property rights are concerned. [7] This court said in Siler v. Siler : It also appears that it is generally recognized that the death of a party in a divorce action after the rendition of the decree granting a divorce does not prevent a judicial review of the decree where property rights are involved. [8] Under 12 O.S. 1981 § 1282 and in light of the facts of this case where there has been no attempt to raise as error the issuance of the divorce until the second-amended petition in error some five months after the decree was entered, the death of the appellee has no legal effect on the status determination of divorce. The status determination of divorce was effective the date of rendition, August 31, 1983. Because the decree of divorce in this case affects the property rights of the parties, the death of the appellee does not abate this pending appeal and this court may review and determine the correctness of the decree insofar as such property rights are concerned.