If the law seems full of vagaries on the problem of entering marriage it is still more perplexing and technical when it concerns the question whether or not two people are still legally married when one has obtained a supposed divorce--so much so that it is not at all uncommon for a lawyer to be faced by a client asking whether or not he, or she, is really married. Some years ago a man was married in Philadelphia and later, having separated from his wife, went to New York. She obtained a decree of divorce in Pennsylvania, the papers having been served on him in New York. He married again and died a generation later, leaving a considerable fortune and three children by his second marriage. The first wife, or her attorneys, then discovered that the original divorce was not legal, since the Pennsylvania courts had not acquired a jurisdiction which would be recognized in New York. Since the man had left the estate to his “wife,” there were complications. As the question involved the meaning of a will, the matter was one of intention and it was not difficult to prove that the deceased intended as his beneficiary the woman whom he regarded as his wife. But had he owned real estate at the time of his divorce the first wife might have had a dower interest, and had his status become one of public importance his enemies might successfully have charged him with bigamy. Ordinarily, people are satisfied with a decree of divorce. It gives them the desired social status. Its technical legality becomes of importance only in connection with estates or the legitimacy of children. But a difficult question arises in case of remarriage. Legality depends upon the jurisdiction of the court. This can be acquired by personal service of papers upon the defendant within the State or a voluntary submission to the jurisdiction by appearing in the case personally or by attorney. But State courts claim and recognize their own jurisdiction even though papers are served outside the State. Under these latter circumstances, suppose a divorce granted a man in Utah is not recognized in New York. If he remarries in Utah he will have one wife there, while in New York another woman would be his wife and he would be obliged to support her there. If his wife in New York married again, she would be guilty of bigamy. In Utah it would be his duty to live with one woman. New York would attempt to make it his pleasure to live with another, and this on the ground of morality, for, although, ordinarily, the law of the place of the new marriage (in this case, Utah) would apply, yet this would result in his having two wives in New York. So on legal grounds we disregard the divorce, and on moral grounds we negative the second marriage.