Bowers v. Wyoming State Treasurer Ex Rel. Workmen's Compensation Division

McCLINTOCK, Justice.

Lela M. Bowers claimed worker’s compensation benefits as surviving widow of Thomas Ira Bowers. Her claim of widowhood was based on an alleged common-law marriage consummated in the State of Texas, which recognizes such marriages. 1 The trial court rejected her claim for the sole reason that she was not the survivor of a “marriage solemnized by a legal ceremony,” as required by applicable Wyoming statutes, 2 and considered immaterial the question of whether such valid common-law marriage had existed in Texas, thereby establishing a legal marriage in Wyoming. In our previous…