Wightman v. Wightman
New York Court of Chancery
THE bill, which was sworn to, stated, that the plaintiff was married to the defendant, on the 5th of July, 1814. That, at the time she was married, she was, as she is now informed, and believes, in a state of insanity and mental derangement 5 and that she should never have consented to the marriage, if she had been in possession of her reason. That she continued insane, as she has been informed, and believes, and so she charged the fact to be, for six months.
Read the full summary
THE bill, which was sworn to, stated, that the plaintiff was married to the defendant, on the 5th of July, 1814. That, at the time she was married, she was, as she is now informed, and believes, in a state of insanity and mental derangement 5 and that she should never have consented to the marriage, if she had been in possession of her reason. That she continued insane, as she has been informed, and believes, and so she charged the fact to be, for six months. That she has never lived, or in any manner cohabited with the defendant, as his wife, and can never cpnsent to ratify the marriage.…
1Opinion of the Court
The Chancellor.
The fact of insanity of the plaintiff, at the time of the marriage, as charged in the bill, and the fact that the parties have never since lived together, or in any manner cohabited with each other, are proved to my satis*345faction. It follows, as a necessary consequence, from these facts, that the marriage was null and void, from the beginning, by reason of the want of capacity in the plaintiff to contract, and has never since obtained any validity, because the plaintiff has never, since the return of her lucid interval, ratified or consummated it.
It is too plain a proposition to…
2Cited by54 opinions
- Van Voorhis v. . BrintnallNew York Court of Appeals · 1881
- Sharon v. SharonCalifornia Supreme Court · 1885
- Erkenbrach v. . ErkenbrachNew York Court of Appeals · 1884
- Commonwealth v. LaneMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1873
- Romano v. RomanoNew York Court of Appeals · 1967
49 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.