Magrath v. Magrath
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Libel filed at April term 1868, for a divorce from the bond of matrimony for the cause of desertion continued for five consecutive years; tried at April term 1869, before Morton, J., and reported as follows for the determination of the full court: “ It appeared in evidence that the parties were married in October 1850, and lived together at Charlestown, and separated twelve years ago.
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Libel filed at April term 1868, for a divorce from the bond of matrimony for the cause of desertion continued for five consecutive years; tried at April term 1869, before Morton, J., and reported as follows for the determination of the full court: “ It appeared in evidence that the parties were married in October 1850, and lived together at Charlestown, and separated twelve years ago. After the separation, the libellant, being destitute, called upon the overseers of the poor for aid, who called upon the libellee; and thereupon the libellee allowed his wife seven dollars per month for her…
1Opinion of the CourtColt, J.
It was held in Southwick v. Southwick, 97 Mass. 327, that the refusal of matrimonial intercourse, although unjustified by considerations of health or physical disability, inasmuch as it was a breach or violation of a single conjugal or marital duty only, would not support a libel for divorce on the ground of desertion, when it had continued for five years consecutively.
The case at bar goes much further. Here there has been for the time required by the statute, an abnegation on the part of the husband of all the chief duties and obligations which result from the marriage contract and…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Southwick v. SouthwickMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1867
3Cited by13 opinions
- Fritz v. FritzIllinois Supreme Court · 1891
- Ringgold v. RinggoldSupreme Court of Virginia · 1920
- Chandler v. ChandlerSupreme Court of Virginia · 1922
- Pedersen v. PedersenCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · 1939
- Burk v. BurkWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1883
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