Opinion ID: 1812566
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Louie's Good Faith

Text: Relators contend that the trial court erred in holding that Louie Gathright was in good faith throughout his marriage to Clara. They refer us to a general rule which has often been expressed by the courts of this State: where a married person knows that his spouse has been previously married, he is not justified in entering the marriage solely on the spouse's word that she is divorced, but he is under a duty to investigate to determine whether the previous marriage was actually dissolved. See Succession of Chavis, 211 La. 313,29 So. 860 (1947); Prieto v. Succession of Prieto, 165 La. 710, 115 So. 911 (1928); Succession of Thomas, 144 La. 25, 80 So. 186 (1918); Succession of Taylor, 39 La.Ann. 823, 2 So. 581 (1887); Succession of Hopkins, 114 So.2d 742 (1st Cir. 1959); Dillon v. Traders and General Ins. Co., 183 So. 553 (1st Cir. 1938); Succession of Glover, 153 So. 496 (Orl.App.1934). The record shows that Clara told Louie prior to their marriage that she was married twice before, but that her first husband died and she was divorced from her second. There is no evidence to indicate that Louie conducted an investigation to ascertain whether, in fact, these two prior marriages had been dissolved. From the jurisprudence on the subject, we agree with the First Circuit's assessment that the rule stated above is more a rule of evidence, or a means of weighing the evidence, than it is a rule of law or legal presumption. Dillon v. Traders and General Ins. Co., supra, at 555. In other words, the fact that the party who is informed of a prior dissolved marriage relies on assurances of the dissolution without conducting an independent investigation does not preclude a finding that he was nevertheless in good faith, when there are circumstances to support that conclusion. In the supreme court cases upon which this rule is based, there were present significant factors that negated any inference of good faith on the part of the individual claiming the status of putative spouse. In Succession of Taylor, supra, for example, the wife had information prior to her marriage that should have led her to believe that her husband's assurances that he was divorced were false. A few months before her marriage she spoke to the first wife who claimed there was no divorce; a few days prior to the wedding she was cautioned by one friend that her intended was not divorced, and another friend disclosed that her fiance had been refused a marriage license because he was not single. Therefore, the court held that this information was sufficient to make it the wife's imperative duty to seek out reliable information of her fiance's marital status before marrying. In Succession of Thomas, supra, there was no evidence that there ever was a marriage ceremony performed between the decedent and the woman claiming to be his putative spouse. In addition, the woman took inconsistent positions, claiming first that her husband had never been married, and later alleging that if he was once married, he had been divorced; those positions the court found to be irreconcilable and weaken[ed] the testimony of the witness. 144 La. at 30, 80 So. at 188. The court then went on to say that she had access to the information of the man's true marital status by merely asking his brother, relatives and friends. From the opinion, it is clear that the court merely disbelieved her allegations rather than intending to set out a broad rule that investigation is always required. And in Prieto v. Succession of Prieto, supra, the court found conclusive proof in the record that the husband was aware his wife's previous marriage was undissolved. [3] The decision in Succession of Chavis, supra, is significant to the instant case. The court acknowledged the rule that there is a duty to investigate when a second spouse knows of the existence of a prior marriage. However held there were additional reasons why the second wife was led to believe that no impediment existed to her marriage to the deceased. 211 La. at 325, 29 So.2d at 864. Those additional reasons which the court found sufficient to establish her good faith, in spite of her failure to conduct an investigation, were that the first wife who lived in the same community never told the second wife that there had been no divorce, others had told the second wife that her husband had separated from his former wife, and that the facts indicated the second wife had no knowledge or reasonable suspicion of the impediment to the marriage. In the instant case, Clara's children testified they were aware of the legal impediment to their mother's marriage but concealed that fact from Louie. Further, the record is devoid of any evidence showing that Louie had received information which cast any real doubt on the validity of his marriage to Clara. The issue of Louie's good faith raises a question of fact which must be determined by the trial judge, and his findings are entitled to great weight. We cannot say that the trial judge erred in finding that Louie was in good faith throughout his marriage to Clara.