About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

B-212148 1 (1984-07-23)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadluo0001 and id is 1 raw text is: THE cOMPTROLLEn UENENAL OECIUION OP THU UNITD TATUi WASHINOTON. 0.C. 20540 FILE: B-212148 DATE: July 23, 1984 MATTER OF: James A. Smalls - Unpaid,.Compensation Multiple Claimants DIGEST: Deceased employee, James A. Smalls, entered into ceremonial marriage with Juanita Stephens on March 1, 1955. Written report by Clerk of Court, Charleston County, South Carolina, states there is no record of divorce between James and Juanita in that jurisdiction. James Smalls entered into ceremonial marriage with Susie (now Susan) Wright on March 12, 1959. Although second marriage is presumed to be valid, such presumption is rebutted by showing that there is no record of divorce between James and Juanita. Under section 20-1-80, Title 20, Code of Laws of South Carolina (1976), all marriages contracted while either of the parties has a former wife or husband living are void. Hence, James' marriage to Susan is void, and she is not the legal widow of the deceased employee, and is not entitled to payment of his unpaid compensation. This decision is in response to an appeal of our Claims Group's settlement action, Z-2844900, December 9, 1982, which denied the claim of Ms. Susan W. Smalls as widow of Mr. James A. Smalls, deceased. Her claim is for the unpaid compensation due Mr. Smalls, a former employee of the Department of the Navy, at the time of his death. In its settlement action, the Claims Group deter- mined, in essence, that since Mr. Smalls entered into a prior ceremonial marriage with one Juanita Stephens, for which no record of divorce is shown, the subsequent ceremonial marriage between the deceased employee and Ms. Susie (now Susan) Wright, under the laws of the State of South Carolina, is null and void. It was, therefore, concluded that Ms. Juanita Smalls is the lawful widow of Mr. Smalls and that Ms. Susan Smalls is not entitled to the unpaid compensation due the deceased employee at the

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most