77 Pa. Super. 219 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1921
Opinion by
The parties to this action for divorce were married in July, 1916. Each one of them was then about the age of sixteen years. It was a runaway marriage. Both of them lived in the City of McKeesport and, after their marriage in Cumberland, returned to that city and took up their home with the parents of the libellant husband. In February, 1920, the libel in this case was filed by the husband peeking a divorce on the ground of wilful and malicious desertion which, as he declares, had been continuous since March, 1917. He testifies that when he returned from work on a day in that month he found that his wife had gone from their apartment and had left behind her a note, addressed to him, which he did not preserve. At the hearing he undertook to testify to its contents in this language: “She just said she did not think
Under these circumstances all of the judges of this court were convinced, as was the learned judge of the court below, that no case of wilful and malicious desertion was made out. On the contrary, the whole of the record rather leads to the conclusion that the separation, if not actually consented to by the husband, was not seriously disagreeable to him. It was said in Thompson v. Thompson, 50 Pa. Superior Ct. 167: “The mutual consent that will prevent a divorce upon the ground of desertion may be inferred from the conduct of the parties, and need not be put in the form of a solemn written agreement.” The same thought is expressed by Trexler, J., in Reynolds v. Reynolds, 62 Pa. Superior Ct. 280: “There appears to have been no attempt on his part at any time to relieve the situation or to open the way for the wife’s return. The conclusion is justifiable that he did not care for his wife’s presence and companionship.” It is not the policy of the State of Pennsylvania to permit divorces to be so easily obtained as they
The appeal is dismissed at the costs of the appellant.