Hall v. Hall

• Decision Date: 24 November 1897
• Parties: HALL v. HALL.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

43 S.W. 429

102 Ky. 297

HALL v. HALL.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

November 24, 1897

Appeal from circuit court, Fayette county.

"To be officially reported."

Action by Sallie Hall against George Hall for divorce. Judgment for defendant, from which plaintiff appeals. Reversed.

J. G Woolfolk, for appellant.

PAYNTER J.

The parties to this action were married in Woodford county, Ky in 1884, and shortly thereafter moved to California, where they resided until 1890, when the plaintiff, Sallie Hall returned to Kentucky, where her family lived, but left her husband in California, where he then and now resides. She seems to have abandoned her husband, and returned to Kentucky to make it her residence, where she has since continuously resided. The ground which she alleges for a divorce from the bonds of matrimony is that she and the defendant have lived separately and apart, without any cohabitation, for five consecutive years next before the commencement of the action. Her actual residence is in Kentucky, and the grounds for a divorce are abundantly proven. The court dismissed the petition, but the reasons therefor do not appear. It is certain that the ground for divorce occurred and existed in this state, as she does not ask for a divorce on grounds other than the one stated. In Becket v. Becket, 17 B. Mon. 372, it appeared that the parties were married in Ireland, and the husband abandoned the wife and emigrated to America. Two grounds for a divorce were alleged,-abandonment and living separately and apart for five consecutive years without cohabitation. The divorce was refused, as the abandonment occurred in Ireland, and when the parties were not residents of the state. The other ground was not held sufficient, because the plaintiff had not lived in the state during the time the separation continued; but the court said "According to the statute, the living separately and apart, without cohabitation, for the space of five consecutive years next before the application for a divorce, entitles either party who has been during that time a resident of this state to a divorce, whether in fault or not." This case is an authority to sustain the plaintiff's right to a divorce. It does not appear in that case that the husband was a resident of Kentucky, but it appears that the last time that the wife had seen him was in the state of Indiana. The court below must have concluded that the state of California w...