MARTIN MORGENSTERN, AS ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ESTATE OF JOSEPH M. RUZA, DECEASED, APPELLANT,
v.
SOPHIE K. RUZA, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1958-03-04
No. 57-69
CARROLL, CHAS., C. J., and FIOR-TON, J., concur.
101 So. 2d 429 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1958) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

A beneficiary cannot profit from their own wrong, but this bars recovery only for future obligations, not pre-existing debts.


Facts & Procedural History

A wife, convicted of manslaughter for her husband's death, sought to collect on money judgments and alimony established by a Florida divorce decree, w…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PEARSON, Judge.

PEARSON, Judge.

Sophie K. Ruza, the divorced wife of Joseph M. Ruza, sued his estate to collect certain money claimed to be due her. The trial judge, upon motion, entered a summary final judgment for the plaintiff. Defendant appeals.

The appellee and the deceased, Joseph M. Ruza, were at one time husband and wife. They resided in the State of New York. As a result of proceedings in that state, not revealed by the record, the wife secured two money judgments against her husband. Some time later the wife instituted an action for divorce against the husband in Dade County, Florida. After personal service upon the husband and pursuant to stipulation of the parties, the court in an interlocutory order decreed that the judgments of the wife “are hereby established as decrees and judgments of this court and enforceable by equitable and legal remedies in the same manner as decrees and judgments of this court; Sophie Koppelman Ruza shall have and recover against Joseph M. Ruza the sum of $8,-158.07, with 6% interest from April 15, 1955, and the sum of $3,150.00 together with interest at the rate of 6% from June 29, 1955.” In the final decree, which was entered several months later, the court provided :

“3. That the cross-plaintiff shall pay to the cross-defendant as lump *431sum alimony the sum of five thousand •dollars, to be paid at the rate of fifteen dollars per week.
“4. That the cross-plaintiff shall pay to the cross-defendant on account of the New York judgment heretofore made a decree of this court, the sum of ten dollars per week until the ■same is fully discharged.”

Shortly after the rendition of this final decree, the appellee wrongfully killed the ■said Joseph M. Ruza. She was convicted •of the crime of manslaughter. On February 20, 1957, the appellee filed her claim .against the estate of Joseph M. Ruza, deceased, for the following sums:

(a) $8,158.07 with 6% interest from April 13, 1955.
(b) $3,150.00 with 6% interest from June 29, 1955.
(c) $5,000.00 lump sum alimony due under final decree dated May 8, 1956.

The appellant-administrator filed his obj ection to the appellee’s claim, and the common law action with which we are now ■concerned resulted. The summary judgment, which is now appealed, sustained the ■appellee’s complaint and allowed her recovery upon the three items designated “a”, '“b”, and “c”, above.

The appellant urges that recovery us barred to the appellee by the principle, ■that no person should be permitted to benefit from his own wrong. See Carter v. ‘Carter, Fla.1956, 88 So.2d 153, and cases cited therein. The appellee in oral argument before this court has conceded that the principle stated bars recovery upon ■item “c” above set out. It will be observed that while this item was designated in the decree as “lump sum alimony” it was actually alimony payable in weekly installments. It was not a debt of the •deceased for which he was then liable ¡but an obligation to be incurred periodically. To allow the appellee to accelerate the obligation would be in itself allowing her to profit by her wrong. Inasmuch as the amount of $5,000 was not a debt of the deceased at the time of his death it cannot be made such a debt by the wrongful act.'

Upon the other hand, the indebtedness set out in items “a” and “b” were preexisting debts and the provision for equitable enforcement was an additional remedy and not a limitation upon their existence. Therefore the appellee did not profit by her wrong but deprived herself of the equitable remedy.

An additional question presented by the appellant urged that appellee is precluded from recovery by a finding of fact contained in the decree of divorce between Joseph M. Ruza and Sophie K.'Ruza, to the effect that she had at the time of marriage released any rights that she may have had in the estate of Joseph M. Ruza. The record in the case appealed does not include the release referred to in the recital in the final decree. We must therefore presume that it did not bar the recovery of the judgments which were entered in the courts of the State of New York and later established as judgments of the circuit court in this state. The final judgment from which this appeal is taken comes to us with a presumption of validity as to its basis as well as its propriety. Lott v. City of Orlando, 142 Fla. 338, 345, 196 So. 313, 315.

For the reasons set out in the discussion of appellant’s first point, the judgment appealed is affirmed as to items “a” and “b” therein and reversed as to item “c”. The cause will therefore be remanded for the entry of an amended judgment from which the item: “(c) $5,000.00 with 6% interest from the date of this judgment,” will be stricken.

Affirmed in part and reversed in part.

CARROLL, CHAS., C. J., and FIOR-TON, J., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Ruza v. Est. of Joseph M. Ruza, 132 So. 2d 308 (Fla. 3d DCA 1961)
    …upon the appeal of Sophie Ruza, and upon the appeal of Stanley Ruza and Martin Ruza the cause is remanded to the county judge’s court for a ruling in accord with section 222.13, Fla. Stat., F.S.A. Remanded. . See Morgenstern v. Ruza, Fla.App.1958, 101 So. 2d 429. . “ * * * Any such claim or demand not so filed within eight months from the time of the first publication of the notice to creditors shall be void even though the personal representative has recognized such claim or demand by paying a portion the…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw