Woman's Right to Salary for Work in Her Husband's Medical Practice

Facts

In a succession dispute between the widow and the sisters of the deceased Dr. Ryffel, the widow claimed compensation for her work carried out in her husband's practice since 1936. The deceased's sisters requested that the surrender values of the life insurance policies taken out by the Ryffel spouses be taken into account in the calculation of the share of the estate and that the widow be required to provide security for the share of which she has the usufruct. The DFC rejected all these claims.

Considerations

The DFC considered that the widow was not entitled to a salary for her work in her husband's practice, as there had been no express agreement for remunerated work. Although the widow had provided exceptional assistance to her husband, this collaboration was as a spouse and not as an employee, in accordance with her legal duty of assistance. Such spousal assistance, common among the wives of rural physicians, is generally not remunerated but constitutes the spouse's contribution to the family's existence.

Regarding the life insurance policies, the DFC ruled that the sums from the contracts concluded by the deceased for the benefit of his wife did not belong to the estate and should therefore not be taken into account in the calculation of the share of…