Benjamin H. Saunders, Estate of Sophus Dee Hanson, Deceased v. Anne Baker Bein Hanson

I agree that our holding in Wesley v. Brown, 90 U.S.App.D.C. 351, 196 F.2d 859 (1952), was binding on the district court and requires an affirmance with respect to the construction of D.C.Code Ann. § 16-421 (1961).1 However, the holding in Wesley v. Brown seems ill-considered since its construction of the statute went far beyond the congressional purpose and here would allow a spouse, who should certainly be considered divorced for these purposes, to take as the lawful surviving spouse as though no divorce had occurred, simply because the *891•six month waiting period had a few more days to run.…