Adelaide Harding v. George Harding
| Decision Date | 15 May 1905 |
| Docket Number | No. 222,222 |
| Citation | 49 L.Ed. 1066,25 S.Ct. 679,198 U.S. 317 |
| Parties | ADELAIDE M. HARDING, Plff. in Err. , v. GEORGE F. HARDING |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
Messrs. Pliny B. Smith and John S. Miller for plaintiff in error.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 318-322 intentionally omitted] Mr. William H. Barnum for defendant in error.
[Argument of Counsel from pages 322-324 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice White delivered the opinion of the court:
The law of Illinois (Laws of Illinois, 1887, p. 115) provided as follows:
'That married women who, without their fault, now live or hereafter may live separate and apart from their husbands, may have their remedy in equity in their own names, respectively, against their said husbands for a reasonable support and maintenance while they so live or have so lived separately and apart; and in determining the amount to be allowed the court shall have reference to the condition of the parties in life, and the circumstances of the respective cases; and the court may grant allowance to enable the wife to prosecute her suit, as in cases of divorce.'
On February 3, 1890, Adelaide M. Harding filed her bill in the circuit court of the county of Cook against her husband, George F. Harding.
It was alleged that the parties were residents of the city of Chicago. In substance, in the bill and an amendment, it was charged that, without her fault, and in consequence of the cruel treatment of her husband, and of his adultery, the plaintiff had been obliged to live apart from him. It was prayed that the court decree that she was so living apart without her fault, that it would award her the custody of certain of the children of the marriage, and that the defendant be decreed to provide for the separate maintenance of the complainant and the support of the children. The answer and an amendment thereto admitted the marriage, the birth of the children, and the residence in Chicago, denied the charges of cruelty and other misconduct, and averred that the complainant was living apart solely through her own fault, and that she had refused to return after repeated requests, which were reiterated in the answer.
We shall hereafter, as far as possible, refer to the parties to that litigation, who are the parties to this suit, as the wife and the husband, respectively.
The court by an interlocutory order, fixed a sum to be paid by the husband for the fees of the solicitors of the wife, for the maintenance of the wife during the pendency of the cause, and for the support of the minor children.
The case was put at issue and much testimony was taken. With this testimony extant, and nearly three years after the commencement of the suit, on January 3, 1893, a document was filed in the papers of the cause, signed by the husband and by his solicitor. In substance the paper recited that, at the time of the commencement of the suit, the wife had in her hands a considerable amount of property and money belonging to the husband which was applicable to her maintenance, and that, when this sum was expended, the husband would feel it his duty to furnish further money to support the wife whatever might be the result of the cause. That the husband was confident of making a successful defense to the suit, but that it seemed to him it was best for the sake of peace and to avoid scandal to put an end to the litigation by consenting to a decree in favor of the wife for a separate maintenance, the paper further stating:
Hence, I give my consent that a decree for separate maintenance shall be entered in favor of the plaintiff without finding or trial of the issue in this case. That this consent is not collusive is sufficiently shown by the length and character of the litigation. I further offer and stand ready to make such other or further or different stipulation by an amendment of the pleadings or otherwise, as may, in the opinion of your honor, be required to make it unnecessary for the court to hear and decide upon the issues in evidence in this case after a long and expensive hearing. To this end I declare my willingness to stipulate, and I do hereby stipulate, that the plaintiff, at the time of the commencement of this suit, was living and ever since has been living separate and apart from her husband without her fault, and may take a decree with my consent for such sum as may be reasonable and just for her separate maintenance. This is the same offer which I have made by way of an attempt at compromise ever since the commencement of this suit, in which effort at compromise I have not hesitated to offer double the amount that, in my opinion, should be allowed for her separate maintenance by the court.'
The wife, on January 17, 1893, filed a counter statement. She in substance declared that she had no previous knowledge of the intention of her husband to file the paper which he had submitted to the court; that she had always been confident of the justice of her cause and of maintaining the same, and that the testimony then taken in the cause gave her great certainty of the establishment of her rights; that she had always been willing to adjust the amount to be allowed for her separate maintenance, provided there was a 'finding and decree of this court thereon that she was, at the time of the filing of the bill herein, living separate and apart from the defendant without fault on her part, and has been so living ever since.' The statement then referred to certain negotiations which had been pending between the husband and wife on the subject of the amount of separate maintenance to be allowed, enumerated previous offers made by the husband on this subject, which she had been unwilling to accept, because the husband had insisted on either the dismissal of her suit, a decree in his favor, or an agreement which would not preclude him from suing for a divorce for desertion arising from her having separated from him. It was then stated, in substance, that, as interpreted by the wife, the paper filed by the husband waived the conditions which he had previously insisted upon, and assented to a decree finding that the separation was without her fault, and she was willing, for the sake of preventing further scandal, to accept the amount previously offered by the husband, although deeming the sum inadequate to her condition of life, 'upon the decree finding that complainant was living separate and apart from defendant without fault on her part, being now promptly entered such as the said voluntary stipulation of the defendant justifies.' No action appears to have been taken by the court upon these two papers except in so far as may be inferred from the statements which follow.
In May, 1893, the court entered an order referring the cause to a master to take further evidence as to the amount of alimony, etc., to be awarded, 'and upon other issues herein than the question as to whether complainant, at the time of the commencement of this suit, was, and since that time has been and is, living separate and apart from her husband, the defendant, without her fault, said defendant having admitted upon the record herein, and now admitting in open court, that the complainant was living separate and apart from him without fault on her part.'
Nearly three years after the matter had been thus referred to the master the order of reference was amended nunc pro tunc, as of the date of the previous order, by substituting for the words 'and now admitting in open court' the words 'as by his written stipulation filed herein on January 3, 1893, and for the purpose of this trial only.' A few months thereafter the master filed his report. Therein he stated his conclusions deduced from the evidence taken prior to 1894 on the subject of the right of the wife to her separte maintenance, and found, as a matter of fact, that her right was established by the proof. He also found that the wife was entitled to a stated sum for her separate maintenance and an additional sum for the support of the children. Exceptions were filed to the report, which were heard by the court, and a final decree was rendered on July 26, 1897. It was recited, among other things, in this decree that the court, 'doth find that the said complainant, at the time of the commencement of this suit, was living, and ever since that time has lived, and is now living, separate and apart from her husband, the said defendant, without her fault, and that the equities of this cause are with the complainant.' The decree awarded to the wife sums for her separate maintenance and for the support of the children up to the time of their becoming of age and a further sum for the fees of the solicitors of the wife and other expenses of the litigation. The decree made no reference to the admission contained in the paper filed by the husband, nor was any statement made which limited the effect of the decree as a final adjudication of the rights of the parties. An exception on behalf of the husband, was taken to each and every finding of the decree, and sixty days were allowed to prepare a certificate of evidence.
It would seem from the certificate of evidence, which was made several months afterwards, that, on the settlement of the decree, a controversy arose as to its terms,—the wife requesting the court to state in the decree that all the charges made in the complaint and the amended complaint as to cruelty, adultery, etc., had been established by the proof; the husband insisting, to the contrary, that the charges had not been proven, and further asserting that it was not necessary to so find, because of his admission of record. The court said that it did not pass upon the question as to whether all the charges made in the complaint were true, because it regarded it as unnecessary 'in view of the said paper of the defendant, filed herein January 3, 1893.'
The husband prosecuted an appeal to the appellate court of Illinois for the first district. But before this appeal was perfected,...
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