Court Opinion

ID: 9762298
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 02:19:09.422363+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:32.959540
License: Public Domain

WIEAND, Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent. My review of the record discloses that appellee did establish by competent evidence that appellant was guilty of desertion; and therefore, I would affirm the decree of divorce entered by the trial court.
*269The evidence in the instant case is conflicting. The parties were married on May 12, 1962, and lived together until May 27,1964. At the time of the hearing before the Master, they had been living separate and apart for more than fifteen years. Their separation was precipitated by an argument, at the conclusion of which appellant-wife’s father threatened by telephone to come over and “knock some sense” into appellee-husband’s head. Immediately thereafter, appellee left the marital home. He testified that following his departure he made repeated attempts to reconcile, and on at least one occasion had made arrangements to lease an apartment so that his wife could rejoin him and they would be able to cohabit as husband and wife. He testified that all of his requests for reconciliation were rejected by his wife. Although this testimony was contradicted by appellant, the Master found appellee’s testimony more credible. The Master, therefore, recommended, and the court found, that appellee was entitled to a divorce on the grounds of desertion.
On appeal, it is the duty of an appellate court “to make an independent study of the record and to determine whether a legal cause of action for divorce exists.” Schrock v. Schrock, 241 Pa.Superior Ct. 53, 57, 359 A.2d 435, 437 (1976). Although an appellate court is not bound by the Master’s findings, where the issue is one of credibility the Master’s findings should be given the fullest consideration, as he or she had the opportunity to hear and observe the witnesses. Where the ultimate decision rests on disputed testimony, the Master’s determination is particularly persuasive. Gehris v. Gehris, 233 Pa.Superior Ct. 144, 148, 334 A.2d 753, 755 (1975).
Desertion has been statutorily defined as the “willful and malicious desertion, and absence from the habitation of the injured and innocent spouse, without a reasonable cause, for and during the term and space of two years . . . . ” Act of May 2, 1929, P.L.1237, § 10, 23 P.S. § 10(d).1 Where one *270spouse is ejected by force or compelled to leave the marital home because of a threat of force and a reasonable apprehension that such force will be employed, constructive desertion has been established. The force or threat thereof may be imposed by the spouse or by a relative of the spouse. See 1 Freedman, Law of Marriage and Divorce in Pennsylvania, § 243 (2d ed. 1957). Constructive desertion has long been recognized as a form of desertion and thus grounds for divorce in Pennsylvania. See: Melli v. Melli, 253 Pa.Superior Ct. 286, 384 A.2d 1347 (1978); Heimovitz v. Heimovitz, 161 Pa.Superior Ct. 522, 55 A.2d 575 (1947); Reiter v. Reiter, 159 Pa.Superior Ct. 344, 48 A.2d 66 (1946). Desertion can also be established by proof of the rejection of a bona fide offer to resume the marital relationship. This is so regardless of whether the separation had been consensual or the result of one spouse’s desertion. See: Freedman, supra, §§ 237, 240.
I find it unnecessary to decide whether appellant-wife was guilty of constructive desertion by compelling appellee to leave the marital home on May 27, 1964, following a quarrel and the threat by appellant’s father to knock some sense into appellee’s head. It may well be that this did not constitute ejectment by force or the threat of force sufficient to require appellee to abandon the common home. See: Scanga v. Scanga, 167 Pa.Superior Ct. 133, 74 A.2d 723 (1950); Heimovitz v. Heimovitz, supra; Reiter v. Reiter, supra; Barnes v. Barnes, 21 D. & C. 101 (C.P.Cumberland Co. 1934). It does not follow, however, that appellee’s departure from the marital home following the quarrel and threats was without cause so as to make him a deserting spouse. See: Reiter v. Reiter, supra.
Moreover, and in any event, if appellant rejected good faith efforts to reconcile initiated by appellee thereafter, she became a deserting spouse. The Master recommended, and the trial court found, that within two years after separation appellee made repeated, good faith offers to reconcile and *271resume the marital relationship with appellant. I am unable to agree with the majority that those attempts to reconcile are irrelevant. On the contrary, when appellant refused to return and live with her husband in response to his good faith offers to reconcile, appellant became the deserter. Whelan v. Whelan, 183 Pa. 293, 38 A. 625 (1897); Hardie v. Hardie, 162 Pa. 227, 29 A. 886 (1894); Bauder’s Appeal, 115 Pa. 480, 10 A. 41 (1887); Grove’s Appeal, 37 Pa. 443 (1861); Laterza v. Laterza, 124 Pa.Superior Ct. 103, 188 A. 89 (1936); Walsh v. Walsh, 117 Pa.Superior Ct. 579, 178 A. 399 (1935); Ward v. Ward, 117 Pa.Superior Ct. 125, 177 A. 515 (1935); McDermott v. McDermott, 113 Pa.Superior Ct. 255, 173 A. 746 (1934); McDonald v. McDonald, 108 Pa.Superior Ct. 80, 164 A. 830 (1933); Weisbrod v. Weisbrod, 103 Pa.Superior Ct. 267, 156 A. 542 (1931); Kurniker v. Kurniker, 94 Pa.Superior Ct. 257 (1928); Kelly v. Kelly, 51 Pa.Superior Ct. 603 (1912). After two years, that desertion ripened into a valid ground for divorce. Bauder’s Appeal, supra; Barnes v. Barnes, supra.
The majority also implies that the instant action may be barred by a prior action in which appellee was denied a divorce on the grounds of indignities. However, my examination of the record in the instant case discloses that the defense of res judicata and/or collateral estoppel was not raised in the proceedings before the Master, was not the subject of appellant’s exceptions to the Master’s report, was not considered in the opinion of the court below, and has not been preserved as a “question involved” in the instant appeal. These potential defenses, therefore, have been waived. They raise complex issues which have not been argued by the parties and which I find it unnecessary to decide.
The parties have been separated for more than 17 years. Their marriage has been irretrievably broken. I would acknowledge legally what the parties have achieved in fact and affirm the decree of divorce.

. The parties did not make application to proceed under the new Divorce Code of 1980, and the provisions of that law were not considered by the court below.