Newburgh v. Arrigo

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

*534POLLOCK, J.

This case concerns a dispute about the distribution of the proceeds of a settlement of a claim for the wrongful death of Melvin H. Newburgh. The defendants, who are not involved in the dispute, are charged with causing Melvin’s wrongful death in an automobile accident. The claimants are Melvin’s widow, Joan, and his son by a prior marriage, Steven. Joan, like Melvin, had been married previously. In 1962 she obtained an uncontested divorce in Mexico from her first husband. Steven contends that the Mexican divorce is invalid and that Joan was…