Court Opinion

ID: 9662440
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:08:45.537804+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:39.436391
License: Public Domain

J. W. Fitzgerald, J.
(dissenting). In this case the majority finds that a woman legally married to one man is entitled to workmen’s compensation benefits attributable to the death of another man as a member of that man’s "family” under MCLA 412.6; MSA 17.156. We are of the opinion that the public policy of this state will not sustain such strained interpretation.
Marriage to another while a former marriage is legally valid is prohibited by MCLA 551.5; MSA 25.5. Such marriages, even if solemnized, are de*342dared to be void by MCLA 552.1; MSA 25.81. Plaintiffs deceased cohabiter had no legal obligation to support plaintiff. That plaintiff be "family” under the Workmen’s Compensation Act is, in this state, a legal impossibility. Accord: general rule stated at 58 Am Jur, Workmen’s Compensation, § 172, p 691. Cf. McDonald v Kelly Coal Co, 335 Mich 325; 55 NW2d 851 (1952).
We cannot presage the impact of this decision upon the laws of this state, or other consequences which may flow from the Court’s decision today. Suffice it to say, the decision represents a departure from legislatively established public policy which we cannot endorse.
M. S. Coleman, J., concurred with J. W. Fitzgerald, J.
Swainson and Lindemer, JJ., took no part in the decision of this case.