Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1959 )

THEAxTORNEY GENERAL
OFTEXAS
AUSTIN II. Tsxan
WILL WIJBON
AlTORNEY GENERAL
August 13, 1959
Honorable Robert S. Calvert
Comptroller of Public Accounts
Austin, Texas
Opinion No. W-686
Re: Whether widow, of a
former Texas Ranger,
who subsequently re-
married, is eligible
for the pension pro-
vided in Senate Bill
53, Acts 56th Legis-
lature, Regular Ses-
sion, 1959, Chapter
Dear Mr. Calvert: 283.
Your opinion request relates to portions of
Senate Bill No. 53, Acts 56th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1959, Chapter 283, Page 629, as follows:
ensions to Widows of Former
'Texas'$Z' ers.
' A pension of Eighty
( 80.00) per month shall also
Dollars "$
be paid to the widow of each former
Texas Ranger who meets the following
conditions:
"(1) The widow was legally married
to a Texas Ranger or former Texas Ranger
prior to January 1, 1957, and at the time
of his death;
"(2) Her husband met the conditions
set out in paragraphs (l), (2), and (3)
of subsection (a) of this Section."
The fact situation giving rise to this request
is as stated in your letter:
‘ -
Honorable Robert S. Calvert, page 2 (WW-686)
'Anna Cooke Williams was married
to Henry Lee Ransom on the 26th day of
December, 1906. She was married to the
said Henry Lee Ransom, a Ranger, who was
killed in line of duty in the Ranger
Service on the first day of March, 1918.
"The said Anna Cooke Williams later
married Purdy M. Williams on the 1st day
of July, 1922, and Purdy M. Williams died
on the 30th day of October, 1952.
'The said Ii.L. Ransom qualified in
every respect as a Texas Ranger, and were
he living at this time he would be entitled
to a Ranger's pension."
Webster's New International Dictionary (Second
Edition 1938) defines a widow as follows:
"A woman who has lost her husband by
death; the female survivor of a marital
union."
In various cases throughout the United States
the courts have held that remarriage by a woman would
not terminate her widowhood. In re Rhode's Estate.,
284 N.W. 706, 288 Mich; 220; Alabama Pension Commission
v. Morris, 4 So. 2d 896, 897 242 Ala. 110; Trathen v.
United States, C.A. Pa., 196 F.2d 757, 759; In re
McArthur's Estate, 292 P. 469, 471, 210 Cal. -In
discussing the remarriage of the surviving wife, Corpus
Juris Secundum has taken the following position:
. However, the word 'widow' is
frequekiy used to refer to the person of
the surviving spouse, rather than to her
marital state or condition, that is, the
term does not indicate whether she remains
a widow or marries again; and thus it has
been said that in the general sense of
mankind, and even in a legal sense, al-
though a widow remarries and becomes the
wife of another she does not cease to be
the widow of the deceased husband. . . .'
94 C.J.S. 51, Widow, Sec. 27.
Honorable Robert S. Calvert, Page 3 (WW-686)
It is our opinion that under the provisions of
Senate Bill No. 53, the remarriage of this surviving
spouse did not destroy her eligibility for the pension
earned by her first husband.
SUMMARY
The subsequent marriage of the
surviving spouse of a Texas
Ranger now deceased who was eli-
gible for a pension did not de-
prive her of her eligibility to
receive pension payments under
Senate Bill No. 53.
Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON
Attorney General of Texas
BY
Assistant
JCSrmg:rm
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman
Raymond V. Loftin, Jr.
Joe Allen Osborn
Riley Eugene Fletcher
L. P. Lollar
REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: W. V. Geppert