Court Opinion

ID: 9559093
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:22:33.524112+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:48.500634
License: Public Domain

McDonough, Justice.
I concur in the result. I place my concurrence upon the ground that under the uncontradicted evidence in this case the minor children of the decedent employee were, at the time of his death, in fact, dependent upon him within the meaning of the Workmen’s Compensation Act of this State. The persuasive facts which, in my opinion, compel such conclusion are these: The minor children were mere infants. The husband and father had left home less than five months prior to his death. His wife had been working for an equally short period of time prior to his departure from home. It does not appear whether or not, in the interim between the time the husband left home and his death, he had the ability to support his wife and children. His wife did not marry until subsequent to his death. Under these facts the words that Mr. Justice Thurman speaking for this Court in the case of McGarry v. Industrial Comm., 64 Utah 592, 232 P. 1090, 1093, 39 A.L.R. 306, while perhaps unnecessary to the decision in that case, are peculiarly apt:
“We are inclined to the view intimated in our former opinion, that where a mere infant, incapable of supporting itself and not competent either to claim or waive a right under the law, is abandoned by its father, whose duty under the law during his life was to support the child, such child, upon its father’s death, within the purview of the Utah Industrial Act, becomes an actual dependent without regard to the question as to whether he has received or had the promise of support.”
This observation was made prior to the amendment of the statute applying the presumption of dependency of children under 18 years of age upon a person legally bound for their support.
It is to be further observed that the evidence is not such as to justify an inference that the father had in fact abandoned his children, or that the mother had any opportunity to enforce their legal rights. Hence, a conclusion that he would not voluntarily discharge his duty or that his wife would not enforce the rights of her children is unreasonable. The mere fact that subsequent to the father’s death the step-father assumed, in part at least, the prior obligation of the father is immaterial, Kramer v. Tone Bros., 198 Iowa 1140, 199 N.W. 985.
I place my concurrence upon the foregoing grounds because I am not persuaded that the presumption of 35-1-71, U.C.A., 1953, is a conclusive one. The intimations of previous cases are to the contrary, if indeed our holdings have not been. See Campton v. Industrial Comm., 106 Utah 571, 151 P.2d 189, 154 A.L.R. 691. Furthermore, at the time of the enactment of our Workmen’s Compensation Act in 1917, *213Chap. 100, Laws of Utah 1917, very many states whose statutes must have been examined in the drafting of our original act, specifically provided that the presumption of dependency of a wife and children in specified categories is a conclusive presumption. See cases cited in annotations in 30 A.L.R. 1253-1263, 35 A.L.R. 1066 at 1071, 39 A.L.R. 313 at 317, 53 A.L.R. 218 at 223, 62 A.L.R. 160 at 166, 100 A.L.R. 1090. Our neighboring state of California had so provided some years before. Statutes and Amendments to the Codes of California 1913, Chap. 176, Sec. 19. Idaho, which adopted a Workmen’s Compensation Act in the same year as Utah, made such presumption conclusive as to children under the age of 18 years. See Chap. 81, Laws of Idaho 1917, pp. 252 and 256. In such situation, had our legislature intended to make the presumption conclusive, it might well have said so.
The prevailing opinion reasons that since our compensation act provides that “in all other cases [where the presumption is inoperative], the question of dependency, in whole or in part, shall be determined in accordance with the facts in each particular case * * * ”, the presumption referred to in the paragraphs of the section quoted from, which precede that quotation, is necessarily conclusive. It asserts that the quoted words are inconsistent with the idea of a non-conclusive presumption. I am unable to so conclude. The quoted words lend no light to my mind in determining whether the presumption referred to is a conclusive one or merely obviates the necessity of introducing evidence relative thereto upon the part of the applicant. They are quite as consistent with one concept as with the other.
WOLFE, C. J., not participating.