Kentzelman v. Kentzelman

— Divorce action wherein by petition and cross-petition each party asks for a divorce from the other on the ground of cruel and inhuman treatment such as to endanger life. Also involved is the custody of their ten-year-old son, Ronald. The trial court dismissed plaintiff’s petition and granted defendant a divorce, custody of the child, also alimony and support money. Plaintiff has appealed.

Plaintiff, age 52, and defendant, age 42, were married in December 1939, at Independence, Missouri. Plaintiff had been divorced twice — in 1933 in Chicago, and in 1939 at Des Moines. Defendant had been…