Jarrett v. Jarrett

The sole question in this case concerns the jurisdiction of a circuit court to modify the custody provisions of a divorce decree after the death of the spouse to whom custody of the child was awarded by the decree.

A decree of the circuit court of Greene County entered on May 26, 1949, granted Nellrose Jarrett a divorce from her husband, Robert Nelson Jarrett, upon the ground of desertion, and awarded her the custody of their son, David Nelson Jarrett, then two and one-half years of age. From his birth the child lived with his maternal grandmother, Ada Boggess, and her husband, Ernest Boggess,…