Court Opinion

ID: 9759749
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 00:26:51.978792+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:04.473168
License: Public Domain

VAN der VOORT, Judge,
dissenting:
The majority of our Court finds that a wife whose husband has deserted her is not entitled to bring an action under the Act of 1907 1 in order to obtain support for herself and her children for the period of time between the date of her husband’s desertion and the filing of a complaint for support under the Pennsylvania Civil Procedural Support Law.2 I respectfully dissent.
*465The Act of 1907, as amended, provides:
“If any man shall separate himself from his wife or children without reasonable cause, and, being of sufficient ability, shall neglect or refuse to provide suitable maintenance for his said wife or children, action may be brought, at law or in equity, against such husband for maintenance of said wife or children, in the court of common pleas of the county where service may be had on the husband as in other actions at law or in equity or in the county where the desertion occurred, or where the wife or children are domiciled, and the said court shall have power to entertain a bill in equity in such action, and shall make and enforce such orders and decrees as the equities of the case demand, and in such action, at law or in equity, the husband and wife shall be fully competent witnesses.”
I see nothing in this Act to preclude a court of common pleas from awarding support as of the date of the husband’s desertion, and I believe that the public interest precludes us from reading such a limitation into the statute. Certainly it is in the best interests of society to encourage married couples who have separated to attempt reconciliation before resorting to legal action when marital disputes arise. Section 7 of the Civil Procedural Support Law provides for orders of support effective only from the time the complaint is filed; therefore knowledgable attorneys will certainly advise their clients that delay in filing for support will cost them money if reconciliation is not effected, and the inevitable result of prohibiting a wife from collecting support as of the date of her husband’s desertion can only be to encourage women to run to the courts every time husbands slam the front door after a marital spat. Section 3 of the Civil Procedural Support Act specifically states that the remedies provided by that Act are “in addition to and not in substitution of proceedings provided by law where there is desertion or a failure of duty to support.” Could the *466Legislature have been more specific? Clearly, sound public policy and the most reasonable interpretation of the relevant statutes demand that wives be permitted to delay filing for support under the Civil Procedural Support Law while they attempt reconciliation with their husbands, without being denied the right, in the event reconciliation fails, to later collect support for themselves and their children for this period.
I would reverse the Order of the court below.

. Act of May 23, 1907, P.L. 227, § 1, 48 P.S. § 131, as amended.

. Act of July 13, 1953, P.L. 431, §§ 1-14, 62 P.S. §§ 2043.31-2043.-44.