225 N.W. 104 | Minn. | 1929
In our system of jurisprudence we view alimony from the standpoint of the civil law rather than from that of the ecclesiastical courts of England. Alimony, like alimentum of the civil law from which the word may have come, relates to a provision for food, clothing, shelter and the necessities of life. It rests on marital duty to provide sustenance. The husband owes this duty in relation to the wife and also in relation with the outside economic world. He, rather than the community at large, is regarded as the proper source of support. He is amply rewarded by reciprocal duties. It does not rest on chivalry. But see 32 Yale L. J. 478.
The power of the court to grant a divorce depends upon statute. The power to grant alimony is inherent in equity jurisdiction. This *179
power is seldom exercised where the subject is treated by statute. 75 Cent. L. J. 426, note; Outlaw v. Outlaw,
In some states alimony is given to a delinquent wife and in others not. 71 Cent. L. J. 194. Allowances to the wife pendente lite may be granted although she may have means of her own. 72 Cent. L. J. 209; 2 Dunnell, Minn. Dig. (2 ed.) § 2802. The amount is governed by necessities depending much upon the parties' station in life, the wife's requirements being largely what they would be if living with the husband. 15 Mich. L.Rev. 81; 18 Ill. L.Rev. 528; 2 Dunnell, Minn. Dig. (2 ed.) § 2803. Under some circumstances alimony may be granted after the entry of a final decree of divorce. 10 Minn. L.Rev. 254.
A husband owes his wife the duty of support and maintenance. But he does not owe her a debt in a legal sense. It is not a liability to pay but an obligation to do, founded not on contract, but on natural duty. Yet it is enforceable as a legal liability. Though valuable, it is in relation to pre-existing creditors a stranger in the field of property. It is not a debt within the constitutional prohibitions against imprisonment for debt. Hurd v. Hurd,
The question relates to the right of a pre-existing creditor to a particular fund, which, being created by equity, is protected by equity. "The question concerns a species of property of a peculiar and specific character, created and existing for one purpose only, and whose express limitations take it out of the general rule." As said by another, it has "restraint and limitation written all over its face by the very law and decree which brought it into existence."
By alimony equity continues the marital duty to furnish sustenance beyond the termination of the marital relation, and equity compels the payment but does not change its nature. In substance, though not in form, the duty is still of the same character. It is a substitute for marital support. Webber v. Webber,
Our views are sustained by authority. Romaine v. Chauncey,
A division of property is essentially a different thing. Kingman Co. v. Carter,
Affirmed. *182