Tudor v. Tudor

• Decision Date: 22 June 1897
• Citation: 101 Ky. 530,41 S.W. 768
• Parties: TUDOR v. TUDOR.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

41 S.W. 768

101 Ky. 530

TUDOR v. TUDOR.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

June 22, 1897

Appeal from circuit court, Fayette county.

"To be officially reported."

Action by James H. Tudor against Ethel Tudor for divorce. Petition dismissed, and plaintiff appeals. Reversed.

Z Givens, W. C. Hobbs, and N.H. Hobbs, for appellant.

GUFFY J.

Appellant instituted this action in the Fayette circuit court against the appellee to obtain a divorce; the grounds being lewd and lascivious conduct on the part of appellee. It is alleged in the petition that appellant then was, and for more than one year last past had been, a resident of Fayette county, Ky and that the defendant then resided, and for some while had resided, in Fayette county. It also appears that the summons was directed to the sheriff of Fayette county, issued against the defendant, and executed in Fayette county October 24 1895. No defense was made by the defendant. Upon the trial of the cause the court dismissed the petition without prejudice as it is said, upon the sole ground of lack of jurisdiction it not having been proven that defendant was a resident of Fayette county at the time of the institution of the suit. The cause for divorce, and residence of plaintiff, seem to be fully proven by the evidence, but the evidence fails to show that the defendant was in fact a resident of Fayette county at the time of the institution of the suit; and the sole question presented for decision is whether or not the court had jurisdiction to render judgment of divorce when the residence of the female defendant is not shown to have been in the county in which the action was instituted at the time of the institution thereof. It is the contention of appellant that the residence of appellee or defendant may be waived, and, if the jurisdiction is not objected to, the court may lawfully hear and determine the case; and he cites the case of Johnson v. Johnson, 12 Bush, 485. In that case the residence of the wife seems to have been in Bullitt county, but she instituted suit in Jefferson county against her husband for divorce. He made defense without objecting to the jurisdiction of the court, but the court dismissed the petition for want of jurisdiction, which judgment was reversed by this court. The court, in discussing that case, said: "The real object, we have no doubt, was to so regulate the jurisdiction as to subserve the convenience and possibly the interest of the wife, by making the...