IN RE SETTLEMENT OF MYRTLE LUELLA BAALSON. CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS v. VILLAGE OF NERSTRAND

Minnesota Supreme Court1941-10-10No. No. 33,099

211 Minn. 96

Summary · law.co

Holding. The judgment determining that the Village of Nerstrand holds the poor relief settlement for Mrs. Baalson and her child Richard was affirmed, based on the principle that a married woman's poor relief settlement follows that of her husband unless she has been continuously abandoned or deserted by him for one year, and a minor child's settlement follows that of the parent with whom he resides.

This case involves a dispute between the City of Minneapolis and the Village of Nerstrand over which municipality must provide poor relief to Mrs. Myrtle Luella Baalson and her minor child, Richard. Mrs. Baalson deserted her husband in 1928 without cause and never returned to him, though she was never divorced. Her husband subsequently established a poor relief settlement in the Village of Nerstrand. Mrs. Baalson lived primarily in Minneapolis, where she received poor relief benefits. The central legal question was whether her poor relief settlement should follow her husband's location or her own residence.

The court held that under Minnesota statute, a married woman who has not been divorced retains the same poor relief settlement as her husband, regardless of her own residence or conduct—unless she has been abandoned or deserted by her husband for at least one year continuously, which was not the case here since she abandoned him. Accordingly, Mrs. Baalson's settlement followed her husband's settlement in the Village of Nerstrand. The court further determined that the minor child Richard, having resided continuously with his mother, must follow her settlement location. The court rejected the Village's argument that equitable considerations or the parties' moral conduct should influence the allocation of poor relief responsibilities between municipalities.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

Whether a married woman's poor relief settlement is determined by her own residence or her husband's settlement location
Whether a wife's abandonment of her husband affects poor relief settlement rights
Whether a minor child's poor relief settlement follows the parent's settlement
Whether equitable considerations or moral conduct should influence poor relief settlement disputes between municipalities

Procedural posture

The City of Minneapolis appealed a judgment determining poor relief settlement for Mrs. Baalson and her minor child in favor of the Village of Nerstrand.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion · public domain

majority opinion

Holt, Justice.

Appeal from a judgment determining the settlement of a wife and minor child for poor relief purposes.

The controlling facts were stipulated. The conclusions of law are attacked by the assignments of error. The facts are these: The respondent city as well as the appellant village are under the town system as to poor relief. Prior to 1928, Mrs. Myrtle Luella Baal-son lived ivith her husband, Elvin Baalson, at Duluth, Minnesota. During that year she without cause willfully deserted him and never returned. She has not been divorced from him. Since 1932 her husband has continuously resided in Rice county, Minnesota, and since 1936 he has had a settlement for poor relief in appellant village located within Rice county. On December 26, 1935, Mrs. Baalson gave birth to Richard, who has since lived with her. Richard is not the son of Mr. Baalson. In 1936, Mrs. Baalson entered a bigamous marriage with one James Valles, with whom she lived until he, in October 1939 was admitted as a patient in the Glen Lake tuberculosis sanatorium of Hennepin county. Mrs. Baalson has lived in the respondent city most of the time since she deserted her husband and during a great portion of that time has received poor relief.

As between the different municipalities and political subdivisions of the state, the settlement of persons for poor relief purposes is controlled entirely by statute. In 1915, City of Willmar v. Village of Spicer, 129 Minn. 395, 152 N. W. 767, was decided, holding that under Mason St. 1927, § 3163, the settlement for poor relief of the wife is the same as that of her husband. In In re Settlement of Golden, 182 Minn. 221, 234 N. W. 7, the same rule was approved and applied. By L. 1939, c. 398, § 1, Mason St. 1940 Supp. § 3161, this exception was added to § 3161: “provided, further, that a married woman, abandoned or deserted by her husband for a period of one year continuously, shall thereafter have the same right to acquire a new settlement as a single person.” This proviso or exception is plainly not applicable to the facts here found. We think the reasons for the decision in the City of Willmar v. Village of Spicer, 129 Minn. 395, 152 N. W. 767, are so adequately stated that nothing further need be added. These cases from other jurisdictions sustain the two cases above cited from this court: Inhabitants of Greene v. Inhabitants of Windham, 13 Me. 225; In re City of Syracuse v. County of Onondaga, 25 Misc. 371, 55 N. Y. S. 634; Town of Mount Holly v. Town of Peru, 72 Vt. 68, 47 A. 103. In the case from New York the subject is very fully considered and discussed. In controversies between political subdivisions as to which must furnish poor relief to a married woman, the law places the burden upon the subdivision in which her husband has a settlement, for poor relief purposes, unless the applicable statute otherwise prescribes.

With respect to the child, Mason St. 1927, § 3161, states: “Every minor not emancipated and settled in his own right shall have the same settlement as the parent with whom he has resided.” L. 1939, c. 398, did not change the quoted part of § 3161 so as to effect any change in the law; hence Richard’s settlement is the same as that of his mother, with whom he has continually lived.

Appellant contends that the equities should be considered. This is a controversy between two political subdivisions of the state as to which one must furnish poor relief to Mrs. Baalson and her minor child. As between respondent and appellant, there are no equities. Neither the city nor the village is to be blamed for the condition in which these applicants for poor relief now are. The morality or the lack thereof of Mrs. Baalson or her husband cannot affect the rights as between the city and the village. The only occasion upon which the statute permits the conduct of the husband and wife toward each other to affect the settlement of the wife for poor relief is when the husband abandons or deserts the Avife. The case of Prater v. Prater, 87 Tenn. 78, 9 S. W. 361, 10 A. S. R. 623, cited by appellant on the oral argument, is not in point. There the Avife, avIio had Avithout cause deserted her husband and eloped Avith another man and taken up a permanent residence with him in another state, Avas held not entitled to claim a homestead right in her husband’s estate. The real ground of decision was that the Avife had acquired a domicile in the state of her actual residence, independent of her husband’s domicile, and the homestead right cannot be claimed by a nonresident.

The judgment is affirmed.