Olds v. Olds

261 N.W. 483, 219 Iowa 1395
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedApril 2, 1935
DocketNo. 42769.
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 261 N.W. 483 (Olds v. Olds) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Olds v. Olds, 261 N.W. 483, 219 Iowa 1395 (iowa 1935).

Opinion

Mitchell, J.

Many of the details of this peculiar case may be omitted, but it seems desirable to outline the matter somewhat briefly.

Appellant and appellee were married on January 17, 1920, and had three children. The oldest at the time of the trial was twelve, the second eight, and the third six. They and their children had always made their home in Charles City, and, at the timé of the trial, the children were living with their mother in the same home..

*1397 Along in February of 1933, trouble developed in the home. No good would be accomplished by setting out the various accusations that were made hy each party against the other. They contined, however, to live in the same house, and, it is the claim of the appellee, lived as man and wife up until some time the early part of June, 1933, when the appellant left the home and went to his father’s house. But before leaving, appellant stated he was going to Chicago and get a divorce. On June 29, 1933, the appellee filed a petition for injunction and on the same day the order for issuance of the writ was duly signed,, reading as follows:

“Upon reading the foregoing petition, it is ordered that writ of injunction issue restraining the defendant Russell B. Olds by himself, agent or attorneys from in any manner proceeding in the State of Illinois by way of action for divorce, or by way of any action to settle any marital questions between the plaintiff and defendant, or any property questions between them, or the custody of their minor children, and that he be further restrained from molesting this plaintiff in the home or from undertaking to remove the children from the home, and that said writ issue upon the plaintiff’s filing a bond in the sum of $100.00, and surety to be approved hy the Clerk of this Court.”

The writ of injunction was personally served on the appellant on the 29th day of June, 1933. He ignored the injunction issued by the Iowa court, and proceeded in Cook county, Illinois, to get his decree, which was entered on October 10, 1933, by the Illinois court. In the meantime, and on August 23, 1933, the appellee in this case filed her petition for separate maintenance, based on allegations of cruel and inhuman treatment, and adultery. Petition asked for temporary and permanent alimony, suit money, and the custody of the three minor children of said parties, and a writ of attachment, to issue without bond, against the property of the appellant. Upon presentation of the petition to a judge of the district court, an order was entered that a writ of attachment issue in the sum of $50,000, without bond, and said writ of attachment was duly issued and lev)'made thereunder. The appellant filed an answer, in which he set up the statutes and decisions of the state of Illinois, and the record of the case in the superior court of Cook county, wherein the appellant was plaintiff and the appellee herein was defendant, and in which case a decree of divorce was rendered in behalf of the *1398 appellant. As a separate division of his answer, the appellant alleged that the appellee had been guilty of adultery in the city of Chicago in March of 1933, and that she was not a proper person to have the care, custody, and control of the children. Appellee filed a reply, wherein she alleged that the court in Illinois was without jurisdiction in granting the divorce to appellant, and alleged that prior to the filing of the bill of divorce in the superior court of Cook county the appellee had secured a writ of injunction against the appellant, restraining him from proceeding in the courts of Illinois to obtain a decree of divorce, and that appellant had ignored said injunction and was guilty of contempt of court in so doing.

After listening to the evidence, the lower court decreed that appellee was entitled to a decree of separate maintenance and the custody of the children, and ordered the appellant to pay to appellee $7,000 for her support and maintenance during the ensuing year; that she be allowed the sum of $4,000 in addition for attorney’s fees and costs; and appellant was further ordered to make payment of $6,000 each succeeding year; and confirmed the attachment that had been issued and ordered special execution for the sale of the attached property.

From the finding and decree of the lower court, the appellant has appealed to this court.

The first error which appellant argues is that a judge of a district court in vacation has no jurisdiction whatever to order an attachment to issue without bond, in a suit for separate maintenance. In the case at bar a judge of the district court in vacation ordered that an attachment issue without bond against the property of the appellant upon presentation to him of the petition for separate maintenance. The appellant duly filed a motion to dismiss the attachment, which was overruled.

In this state divorce is wholly statutory. Section 10469 provides:

“An action for divorce shall be by equitable proceedings, and no cause of action, save for alimony, shall be joined therewith.”

The jurisdiction, the grounds for divorce, the right to an attachment, the denial of remarriage, and other matters pertaining to divorce are all provided for in the Code.

The first time that the question of separate maintenance came before this court was in the case of Graves v. Graves, 36 Iowa 310, 14 Am. Rep. 525. The court said, at page 311:

*1399 “The main question involved in this controversy is, whether a court of equity has the authority or jurisdiction to entertain an action brought for alimony alone, and to grant such alimony where no divorce or other relief is sought.”

At page 313 the court continued: “The question here involved has never been before, or decided by, this court.”

And then the court said at page 314: “It seems to us, that upon well-settled equity principles, as well as upon considerations of public policy, the action may be maintained without asking a divorce or other relief.”

In Shipley v. Shipley, 187 Iowa 1295, at page 1306, 175 N. W. 51, 55, this court said:

“Though an action for separate maintenance is not authorized by statute, it was held in Graves v. Graves, 36 Iowa 310, 14 Am. Rep. 525, upon well-settled equity principles, as well as upon considerations of public policy, that the wife may maintain an action for separate maintenance and support without asking for a divorce; and in Finn v. Finn, 62 Iowa 482, 17 N. W. 739, that the court may require the husband to provide means of prosecuting such an action when instituted.”

Again, in Freet v. Holdorf, 205 Iowa 1081, 1083, 216 N. W. 619, 620, this court said:

“The action of separate maintenance is not based upon specific statutory provision, but rests on broad principles of equity, and may be granted though no divorce or other relief is sought. Graves v. Graves, 36 Iowa 310, 14 Am. Rep. 525.”

And in the recent case of Bartlett v. Bartlett, 214 Iowa 616. at pages 618, 619, 243 N. W. 588, 589, this court said:

“Separate maintenance without a divorce in this state is allowed independent of statute. Kalde v. Kalde, 207 Iowa 121, 222 N. W. 351; Davies Dry Goods Co. v. Retherford, 195 Iowa 635, 191 N. W. 794; Shipley v.

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261 N.W. 483, 219 Iowa 1395, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/olds-v-olds-iowa-1935.