88 Kan. 331 | Kan. | 1912
This appeal involves the question whether a plaintiff must have a residence in the state for the period of a year prior to the bringing of an action in order to confer jurisdiction upon a court to grant a divorce. The appellant, a resident of Nebraska, brought an action in Dickinson county against the appellee, a resident of that county, asking for a divorce, alimony and the custody of a minor child. The court refused a divorce, holding that residence in the state for a year prior to the filing of the petition was essential to her right to maintain the action.
Under the statute as it existed prior to the enactment of the new code no one doubted that actual residence in the state by the plaintiff for a year was a prerequisite to the maintenance of an action. That statute provided :
“The plaintiff in an action for divorce must have been an actual resident in good faith of the state for one year next preceding the filing of the petition, and a resident of the county in which the action is brought at the time the petition is filed.” (Gen. Stat. 1901, § 5133, Old Civ. Code, § 640.)
The section as amended by the legislature of 1909 reads:
“The plaintiff in an action for divorce must have been an actual resident in good faith of the state for one year next preceding the filing of the petition, and a resident of the county in which the action is brought at the time the petition is filed, unless the action is brought in the county where the defendant resides or may be summoned.” (Civ. Code of 1909, § 664.)
It is argued that the added clause changed the section so that a nonresident plaintiff may bring an action in any county of the state where the defendant resides or may be summoned. Under that interpretation a divorce might be granted although neither of the parties were domiciled in the state because the amendment
The judgment of the distinct court is affirmed.