Husband and Wife -- Personal Tort Actions Between Spouses -- Statutory Construction

Following an interlocutory divorce decree, and while the parties were living apart from one another, defendant allegedly assaulted the plaintiff. The trial court dismissed her complaint on the ground that no action could be brought by one spouse against the other for personal torts committed during coverture. On appeal, held, reversed, three judges dissenting and one concurring. The Judicial Code and the Husband and Wife Statutes of Utah, when considered together, entitle a married woman to maintain an action against her husband for injuries intentionally inflicted upon her.

Taylor v. Patten, 2 Utah (2d) 404, 275 P. (2d) 696 (1954).