Sousa

Plaintiff Maria Jacinto de Sousa, now some 82 years old, illiterate resident of Santo Espirito, on the island of Santa Maria, Azores, Republic of Portugal, was found by the trial court to be the lawful wife of Manuel Sousa Freitas at the time of his death. Hence, she was awarded a decree imposing a constructive trust as to her marital interest on the properties of his estate, as against Catherine E. Freitas, found to be only his putative wife, and the Bank of America National Trust & Savings Association, as executor. The appellants contest such determinations.

Three years after his marriage at Santo Espirito in 1908 and establishing their residence there, followed by the birth of a son, Manuel Joaquin de Sousa emigrated to California, and for a short period remitted small sums to his family. In 1915, Sousa secured a decree from the Superior Court of Alameda County changing his name to Manuel S. Freitas. Though it would seem that a wife or a child is a person vitally concerned, the Code of Civil Procedure sections 1275-1279, inclusive, makes no provision for personal service of such an application upon them unless as a “near relative” when the father of a petitioner is…