Lester v. Lester
Supreme Court of Georgia
Husband and wife. Alimony. Before Judge Erwin. Clarke Superior Court. February Adjourned Term, 1879. Mrs. Lester, by petition for rule against her husband', showed that in January, 1879, upon her application based on §1747 of the Code, the court granted an order or decree against her said husband to pay to her $8.33£ on the first of each month thereafter for the support of herself and children, who were then living separate and apart from him; that this was done when there…
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Husband and wife. Alimony. Before Judge Erwin. Clarke Superior Court. February Adjourned Term, 1879. Mrs. Lester, by petition for rule against her husband', showed that in January, 1879, upon her application based on §1747 of the Code, the court granted an order or decree against her said husband to pay to her $8.33£ on the first of each month thereafter for the support of herself and children, who were then living separate and apart from him; that this was done when there was no libel for divorce pending. That respondent, pursuant to such decree, paid to petitioner the first two…
1Opinion of the Court
Bleckley, Justice.
If a man, though having health, will not work for the support of his wife and minor children, a court cannot assume direct control of his will and muscle and compel him to labor. To do this would be to reduce him to a sort of juridical slavery, and would contradict the spirit of our institutions. To be idle (taking the consequences) is one of the privileges of a freeman, unless he is convicted pen-ally of some offense and put to work as a punishment. But while a civil court cannot order an able-bodied man to go to work, it can, in a proper case for. alimony, order him to…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Thweatt v. KiddooSupreme Court of Georgia · 1877
3Cited by16 opinions
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