128 Misc. 146 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1926
This action was originally instituted by the plaintiff against the defendant seeking a judgment of separation. Alimony was awarded for the support and maintenance of the plaintiff and an infant child and fixed by the court at thirty-five dollars per week. It seems that the infant was, in April last, taken seriously ill and it became necessary to secure medical services, and one Dr. Nathan Hanellin attended. On two occasions it appears that the brother of the plaintiff, who was a physician, was present during the treatment by Dr. Hanellin, whose bill for services was fifty-seven dollars and fifty cents. The mother now seeks to recover of the father, the defendant herein, the money to liquidate this bill. The judgment granted herein was separation from bed and board, not a final divorce. Has the court now power to direct the defendant to reimburse the plaintiff for the obviously necessary medical expenses? There would clearly seem to me to be an obligation still resting upon the father to pay for expenses of this nature for his child. The duty of a parent towards a child cannot be terminated by a judgment of separation so as to relieve him from such vitally necessary disbursements as are here shown. There seems to be authority for this