Jacobson v. Russell

1930 OK 136, 286 P. 299, 142 Okla. 181, 1930 Okla. LEXIS 94
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 25, 1930
Docket18638
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 1930 OK 136 (Jacobson v. Russell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jacobson v. Russell, 1930 OK 136, 286 P. 299, 142 Okla. 181, 1930 Okla. LEXIS 94 (Okla. 1930).

Opinion

HUNT, J.

This is an appeal from the district court of Oklahoma county from a judgment rendered in an action therein pending wherein the plaintiff, defendant in error here, sought and obtained judgment against the defendant, plaintiff in error here, on a foreign judgment in the sum of $1,080.-20, with interest thereon at the rate of 6¡ per cent, per annum from the 1st day of January, 1926.

For convenience the parties will be referred to here as they appeared in the trial court The admitted facts are that plaintiff and defendant were formerly husband and ¡wife; that on May 26, 1908, in the district court of Bourbon county, Ivan., tlie plaintiff obtained a divorce from her husband, the defendant herein; that incorporated in said divorce decree was an order that this defendant should pay to the plaintiff the sum of $10 per month for the support and maintenance of Cecil Jacobson, the minor son of plaintiff and defendant; that at the time of the institution of said divorce action, the defendant, P. Lester Jacobson, was a resident of Oklahoma City in the state of Oklahoma, and that he waived the service of summons in said action and entered his voluntary appearance in same in the district court of Bourbon county, Kan. It further appears that from the date of the entry of said decree on May 26, 1908, up until August 4, 1921, this defendant had made all the monthly payments as by said order and decree required, but on said last-mentioned. date, the plaintiff filed a motion in said case in the district court of Bourbon county, Kan., wherein and. whereby she sought to have said monthly payments increased from $10 per month to the sum of $30 per month. It further appears that service of the hearing on said motion was attempted to be had on defendant by mailing to him at his address in Oklahoma City a notice to the effect that said motion, copy of which was attached to the notice, would be heard in the district court of Bourbon county, Kan., on the 13th day -of August. *182 1921. This notice was sent by registered mail and return receipt therefor signed by the defendant under date of August 5, 1921, is incorporated in the record. Defendant did not appear at said hearing, and upon the showing made on the motion by plaintiff, same was sustained, and the district court of Bourbon county, Kan., made its order modifying its former decree of May 26, 1908, and increasing the allowance therein made from $10 per month to $30 per month. Defendant continued to mate the payments of $10 per month up to and including September, 1921, and thereafter made no further payments, according to the record, until December 3, 1921, and December 22, 1921, paying $15 on each-' of said dates. During the year 1922, defendant made ten payments of $15 each, and during the year 1923, twelve payments of $15 each; during the year 1924, 12 payments of $15 each, and during the year 1925, four payments of $15 each.

This action was begun in the district court of Oklahoma county on January 4, 1926, by plaintiff filing in said court a petition setting up the judgment and orders of the district court of Burbon county, Kan., alleging default on the part of the defendant and seeking judgment for the balance due from defendant under and by virtue of said judgments in the district court of Bourbon county, Kan.

An amended petition iwas later filed by order of court, and after unsuccessful motions for judgment on pleadings, and demurrer to the petition filed ‘by defendant, Die defendant filed answer in the form of general denial, and further attacking the validity of said judgment, contending that no legal or valid service was had upon defendant of the hearing on the motion upon which the judgment of August 13, 1921, was rendered, for the reason that defendant was at said time a resident of the state of Oklahoma, and that no service was had upon him as required by law, and that the same was an attempt upon the part of plaintiff to cause the Kansas court to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction over defendant.

Other defenses were alleged in the answer, but upon demurrer same were stricken. Upon the issues thus made, trial was had to the court and judgment rendered for plaintiff as hereinbefore set out, and from this judgment defendant prosecutes this appeal. Some six assignments of error are contained in the petition in error, but in discussing same in the brief of plaintiff same are grouped under two general propositions, as follows:

First proposition: The orders and judgment of the district court of Bourbon county, Kan., upon which this suit is predicated were not such final orders or judgments or decrees of the court of Kansas as to be given full faith and credit in the courts of the state of Oklahoma.

Second proposition: The attempt upon the part of the Kansas court to render a personal money judgment against a resident of Oklahoma was an attempt to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction, and therefore wholly void. ,

We shall discuss the second proposition first. In support of this contention plaintiff cites applicable provisions of the Kansas statutes (Rev. St. 1923) relative to proceedings of this kind, the same being as follows:

“60-1510. Provisions for Minor Children. When a divorce is granted the court shall make provision for the guardianship, custody, support and education of the minor children of the marriage, and may modify or change any order in this respect whenever circumstances render such change proper.
“60-722. Notice of Motion. Where notice of a motion is required, it must be in writing, and shall state the names of the parties to the action or proceeding in which it is made, the name of the court or judge before whom it is to be made, the place where and the day on which it will be heard, the nature and terms of the order or orders to be applied for; and if affidavits are to be used on the hearing, the notice shall state that fact, and it shall be served a reasonable time before the hearing.
“60-723. Service of Such Notice. Notice of motions mentioned in this article may be served by a sheriff, coroner or constable, the party or his attorney, or by any other person, and the return of any such officer or affidavit of any such person, shall be proof of service; the service shall be on the party, or his attorney of record, and in case there is more than one party adverse to such motion, service shall be made upon each party or his attorney.
“60-724. Manner and Place of Service. Fees. The service of a notice shall be by copy served in any manner in which a summons may be served, and may be served without the state; and when served by an officer, he shall be entitled to like fees.”

Though the divorce in this case was granted in 1908, under, the provisions of section 60-1510, Revised Statutes of Kansas 1923, above quoted, the court had the power to modify or change the order relative to the custody and support of the minor child whenever circumstances rendered such change proper.

The Supreme Court of Kansas, in construing this statute, in Miles v. Miles, 65 Kan. 676, 70 Pac. 631, said:

*183 “He (the court) may at any time, upon proper notice, change any former order made with reference to these matters by adding to or taking from the burdens of either party relative to the same.”

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Related

Simms v. Hobbs
1966 OK 5 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1966)

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Bluebook (online)
1930 OK 136, 286 P. 299, 142 Okla. 181, 1930 Okla. LEXIS 94, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jacobson-v-russell-okla-1930.