3 Wis. 662 | Wis. | 1854
By the Court,
The complainant filed her bill in the Circuit Court of Eock county, in September last, praying that the marriage contract between her and the defendant, her husband, might be dissolved. The causes alleged are, desertion, cruelty and
We are now called upon to decide, the question whether the Circuit Court has jurisdiction to decree a dissolution of the marriage contract, in a case where the marriage and the causes of divorce as alleged, occurred in another State, and wheie the defendant has never been a resident of, or served with process with in this State. If this was a new question we should have little hesitation; but having been heretofore passed upon by the highest judicial authority of the State, its presentation to this court again for discussion, involves considerations of the most grave and momentous character.
We have no doubt that a divorce duly decreed by
It appears, however, in this case, that the marriage and the alleged causes of divorce occurred in New York, and that the defendant is and has always been
In view of the serious consequences which would result from overturning the rule of • law laid down as above stated, going as it does to the very jurisdiction of the court, without which its judgment would be null and void, though we cannot adopt the reasoning of the majority in Manley vs. Manley, we feel constrained to abide by their judgment rendered therein. Many divorces, under similar circumstances, have been granted since ; new matrimonial relations have been formed by the parties, to disturb which would give rise to the most painful embarrassment, “in consequence of the doubts and contests which
However children, the issue of marriages consummated by parties who have availed themselves of the rule of decision above referred to, may be regarded in other States where a different rule prevails, so long as it remains in this State, they will be protected here. The legislature may alter the rulé, and arrest the evil, without either bastardizing children, or placing the parent without the pale of legal protection.
We have not examined the proofs in the case, but the decree of the Circuit Court is reversed, and the case is remande,d for further proceedings.