A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 3 of 3Howard, George Elliott
History
A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 3 of 3
Howard, George Elliott
Families; Marriage -- History
_c_) _Remarriage, residence, notice, and miscellaneous
provisions._--It has been found convenient in the preceding section
to trace throughout the period the development of the New York
law regarding the remarriage of divorced persons. By the original
statute of 1787, it thus appears, the guilty defendant is forever
prohibited from marrying again. Under the acts of 1813 and 1827-28
the restriction is limited to the lifetime of the innocent former
spouse; and this rule is retained in the present law, although in
harmony with the practice elsewhere widely prevailing, the parties
to the action are at liberty to renew their matrimonial vows. The
defendant, however, may marry again in case the court in which the
judgment is given "shall in that respect modify such judgment,
which modification shall only be made upon satisfactory proof that
the complainant has remarried, that five years have elapsed since
the decree of divorce was rendered, and that the conduct of the
defendant since the dissolution of said marriage has been uniformly
good."[509] At no time, apparently, has any legal check been put
upon the immediate remarriage of the successful plaintiff after
final decree; and a way has been found by which the guilty defendant
may at once contract further wedlock through evasion of the statute.
In 1881 the precedent established by Massachusetts in 1829 was
followed by the New York court of appeals. It was then decided that
when a husband who has been divorced in New York for his adultery
"goes into another state for the purpose of evading our law, and
there contracts a second marriage during the lifetime of his former
wife, and immediately returns to and resides within this state,
such second marriage is, nevertheless, valid, and the issue thereof
legitimate."[510] On the other hand, it is held that the restraint
applies to the remarriage of divorced persons even when the divorce
was granted in another state. Thus dower was "denied on a showing
that the deceased husband, while a resident of Massachusetts, had
been divorced from his wife for his fault and later had removed
to New York and married the plaintiff while his former wife was
living. It was held that the New York statutes governed whether
the divorce was granted in that state or not, so long as the
marriage was celebrated in New York."[511] But elsewhere the courts
have taken the opposite position, holding that the restraint on
remarriage applies only to divorces granted in the state where it is
imposed.[512]
[509] _Rev. Stat._ (1889), IV, 2599; STOVER, _Code of Civil
Proced._ (1902), II, 1843. _Cf._ 5 BARBOUR, _Chancery Reports_,
117; 11 _N. Y._, 228; 34 _N. Y._, 643; 42 _N. Y._, 546; 2 HUN,
_N. Y. Supreme Court Reports_, 241; 92 _N. Y._, 146.
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