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
No further legislation on the subject appears until 1813, when
some important changes in the law were made. Now a petition for
divorce, on the same grounds, may be brought only when the persons
concerned were inhabitants of the state at the time the offense was
committed; or when the marriage was solemnized or took place in the
state, and the person injured was an actual resident of the state
at the time of the offense and at the time of exhibiting the bill.
The facts are to be tried by a "special or foreign" jury at some
circuit court or sittings, to be held by a justice of the supreme
court; and the person convicted is prohibited from further marriage
only during the lifetime of the other spouse. But the most important
innovation made by this act is the provision for partial divorce in
favor of the wife. Under the same conditions as to residence, the
court of chancery is empowered to grant a _feme covert_ a decree of
"separation from bed and board forever thereafter, or for a limited
time, as shall seem just and reasonable," when the husband has been
guilty (1) of cruel and inhuman treatment; or (2) of such conduct
"as may render it unsafe and improper for her to cohabit with him,
and be under his dominion and control;" or (3) when he has abandoned
her and neglected or refused to provide for her support. In all such
cases, if the defendant prove the ill conduct of the complainant as
a justification, he may be "dismissed with or without costs in the
discretion of the court." On the other hand, whether a separation
be decreed or not, the court is authorized "to make such orders and
decree for the suitable support and maintenance" of the wife and
children by the husband or out of his property, as the chancellor
shall deem just.[374]
[374] Act of April 13, 1813: VAN NESS AND WOODWORTH, _Laws of N.
Y._ (1813), II, 197-201.
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