Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 113703; Published
Judges Gribbs, Kelly, and Shepherd; Unanimous
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 184 Mich App 779; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Spouses as Dependents [§3110(1)]
Dependents in Other Scenarios [§3110(2)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Not Applicable
CASE SUMMARY:
In this unanimous Opinion by Judge Shepherd, the Court of Appeals held that the statutory presumption of dependency contained in §3110 does not apply where a husband and wife are separated at the time of the death of one of the spouses. In that situation, there is no statutory presumption, one way or another, and dependency must be established on the facts as they existed at the time of the death. The court stated: "The pivotal issue in this case is whether plaintiff is a dependent of his wife within the meaning of the no-fault act. Section 3110(l)(b) provides that a husband who is living with his wife at the time of her death is conclusively presumed to be a dependent of his wife. Where a person does not fit within the statutory presumption, the person's dependency and the extent of the dependency is to be resolved by looking to the facts as they existed at the time of death. Although we find that the trial court's application of the statutory presumption was erroneous, we also reject defendant's assertion that because plaintiff is not presumed to be a dependent he must be presumed not to be a dependent. The statute clearly states that when the presumption is not operative, the dependency determination must be made upon the facts as they existed at the time of death.”
