Hornor v. Hornor

• Decision Date: 08 September 1931
• Docket Number: Case Number: 19926
• Citation: 151 Okla. 292,1931 OK 499,3 P.2d 670
• Parties: HORNOR v. HORNOR.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

1931 OK 499

3 P.2d 670

151 Okla. 292

HORNOR v. HORNOR.

Case Number: 19926

Supreme Court of Oklahoma

Decided: September 8, 1931

Syllabus

¶0 1. Divorce--Ground of Extreme Cruelty--Incompatibility of Taste in Household Affairs Insufficient.

Incompatibility of taste or temperament or estrangement produced by differences of opinion growing out of the administration of household affairs is not sufficient to entitle a party to a divorce on the ground of extreme cruelty.

2. Same -- What Constitutes "Extreme Cruelty."

"Extreme cruelty," as between husband and wife, exists when the conduct of the husband or wife is such that the life or health of the other may be endangered, or when such conduct unjustifiably wounds the mental feelings or so destroys the peace of mind as seriously to impair the health or endanger the life of the other, or is such as utterly destroys the legitimate objects and aims of matrimony.

3. Same--"Gross Neglect of Duty."

Gross neglect of duty, within the meaning of the statutes of divorce, is such a glaring, shameful, or monstrous neglect of marital duties as to be obvious from common understanding and inexcusable under the facts in the case.

4. Same--Evidence Held to Establish no Cause for Divorce in Favor of Husband.

Record examined, and held to show no cause for divorce under the provisions of the applicable statutes of Oklahoma.

5. Same--Disposition of Cause upon Reversal.

Where a judgment of a district court in a divorce action is reversed by this court for the reason that the judgment is against the clear weight of the evidence, and the present financial condition of the parties is not shown by the record, this court will direct the trial court to set aside the order made by it, to hear evidence of the financial condition of the parties, and to make such order for the maintenance of the wife and respecting the property of the husband as the trial court shall find from the evidence to be proper.

Appeal from District Court, Logan County; Charles C. Smith, Judge.

Action by C. G. Hornor against Jessie A. Hornor. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Reversed and remanded, with directions.

Warren K. Snyder, for plaintiff in error.

R. E. Wood, amicus curiae.

John Adams and Snyder, Owen & Lybrand, for defendant in error.

ANDREWS, J.

¶1 This action was commenced by C. G. Hornor, defendant in error, who filed his petition in the district court of Logan county, praying for an absolute divorce from the plaintiff in error, Jessie A. Hornor. The parties hereinafter will be referred to as they appeared in the trial court. The plaintiff was granted an absolute divorce and the defendant was allowed no attorney's fees or maintenance and no property was set aside for her use and benefit.

¶2 It is impracticable in this opinion to comment at length on the evidence adduced at the trial of the cause. The record in this case consists of approximately 1,000 pages, the larger portion of which consists of evidence as to the relation existing between the parties and their acts prior to their marriage. About those matters this court is not concerned. It is necessary to comment thereon herein no further than to say that the parties to this action had ample opportunity to observe each other's habits, temperaments, and dispositions prior to their marriage. They were married on March 19, 1928, and they separated on April 28, 1928.

¶3 As grounds for a divorce the plaintiff alleged gross neglect of duty and extreme cruelty. "Extreme cruelty," as a ground for divorce, means everything that the words convey. It is more than indifference, neglect, or the speaking of immodest or harsh words. Marriage is a civil contract wherein the contracting parties assume voluntary relations and obligations. Courts are not warranted in destroying the marriage relation except for well-defined causes prescribed by statute. In Barker v. Barker, 25 Okla. 48, 105 P. 347, this court held:

"Husband and wife are bound to exercise greater efforts for removing misapprehension, allaying quarrels, smoothing the road to concord, and effecting reconciliation than are people in other relations of life. The marriage status is not a mere contract status in which each of the parties may be justified in demanding the strict letter of the bond. It is a status wherein the law operates upon the weakness, as well as the strength, of human nature, and it will not be dissolved except for grave and substantial causes"

--and:

"* * * To entitle a party to the remedy of divorcement on the ground of extreme cruelty, it is not enough that the grounds be the result of incompatibility of tastes or temperament or estrangement produced by differences of opinion and conduct growing out of the administration of household affairs, as these must be endured along with the other minor misfortunes of life. They are the things which under the law parties who marry take into consideration on entering matrimony, and divorce will not be granted on their account. The remedy of absolute divorce is an extraordinary remedy for evils which are unavoidable and unendurable, and which cannot be relieved by any proper and reasonable exertion of

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