DuMont v. Godbey

The plaintiff, after divorce, sued her former husband for a division of property pursuant to G. L. c. 208, § 34. The defendant died during an adjournment in the trial, his executrix was substituted as defendant, and the action was dismissed on the ground that it had abated on the defendant’s death. The plaintiff appealed, and we granted her application for direct appellate review. We hold that in the circumstances of this case, where the divorce decree incorporated an agreement for alimony that may have survived the defendant’s death, the action did not abate. We therefore reverse the order…