Opinion

Commonwealth Ex Rel. Smith v. Smith

  • 217 Pa. Super. 1
  • 268 A.2d 161
  • 1970 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1223
Court
Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Filed
Jun 11, 1970
Status
Published
Author
Montgomery
On the bench
Wright, Watkins, Montgomery, Jacobs, Hoffman, Spaulding, Cercone
Cited by
14 cases
Authority
More cited than 8.7%

father's promise to daughter that he would send her to college considered in affirming support award

How later courts described this case

  • father's promise to daughter that he would send her to college considered in affirming support award

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

Concurring and Dissenting Opinion by

Montgomery, J.:

I concur with the action of the majority in affirming the award to the mother in this case. However, I dissent from the affirmance of the award to the daughter for her college education.

It is my opinion that the testimony of the father on the subject of his promises to send his daughter to college can be interpreted only as a general desire or his personal resolution to do so. It is apparent from the record that the father does not have sufficient estate, earning capacity or income to enable him to send this child to college without undue hardship. Therefore, in absence of an agreement, we should not require him to do so. Commonwealth ex rel. Yannacone v. Yanna cone, 214 Pa. Superior Ct. 244 , 251 A. 2d 694 (1969). I believe that the term agreement, which was used by tln> Court in the latter and other like cases, means a binding contract, oral or written, which must be sup *7 ported by consideration like other contracts to be legally enforceable. See Commonwealth v. Martin, 196 Pa. Superior Ct. 355 , 175 A. 2d 138 (1961). Haying found no suck agreement in this record, I respectfully dissent from expansion of the law of support to include the enforcement of orders of support against parents who express their strong desires or promises to send their children to college.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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