People ex rel. Glendening v. Glendening

159 Misc. 215, 288 N.Y.S. 840, 1936 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1318
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 27, 1936
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 159 Misc. 215 (People ex rel. Glendening v. Glendening) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. Glendening v. Glendening, 159 Misc. 215, 288 N.Y.S. 840, 1936 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1318 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1936).

Opinion

Gavegan, Official Referee.

The issues of fact and law on a motion to modify an order of this court, entered May 10, 1929, awarding the sole custody of the son of the parties to the father, with certain rights of visitation to the mother, which order the mother consented to, have been referred to me as official referee to hear and report, pursuant to an order of Mr. Justice Church entered August 19, 1935.

Those issues duly came on to be tried before me at the several hearings, from the 7th day of October, 1935, to the 6th day of November, 1935, inclusive. Further evidence was received by stipulation in December and on January 6, 1936, a motion was made and granted for leave to reopen the hearing, in order to add still further documentary evidence to the record, circumstances which have delayed the preparation and submission of this extended report. The proofs of the respective parties have been duly adduced and considered.

Due deliberation having been had hereon, I submit the following report and recommendations.

Section 70 of the Domestic Relations Law governing the award of custody as between parents on habeas corpus provides that “In all cases there shall be no prima facie right to the custody of the child in either parent, but the court shall determine solely what is for the best interest of the child, and what will best promote its welfare and happiness, and make award accordingly.”

The relator and respondent intermarried in London, England, on June 28, 1922, when they were twenty-six and eighteen years of age, respectively. One child was born of the marriage, namely, a son, Alan, on July 27, 1923, in Paris, France. Alan is now [217]*217twelve years of age. On July 14, 1924, the father and mother became residents of New York county and the father has at all times since remained a resident of said county.

The father and mother continued to reside together in New York city until February 11, 1925, when the mother left the relator and the infant Alan, following what appears to have been their first serious quarrel, and refused to return to their home. There is a sharp conflict in the testimony relating to this quarrel, but evidently the wife’s resulting aversion to her husband proved stronger at that time than the mother’s love for her child. Not trusting to time to heal the breach, the respondent claims she was justified in leaving her husband, less than three years after their marriage and when the child was less than two years of age. The relator pleads great provocation and extenuating circumstances for his part in the quarrel. His humble apologies and appeals for forgiveness, written in the hope of reconciliation, were of no avail. Since that time they have not lived together.

If the respondent was justified, as she claims, in leaving her husband, she could have prevailed in an action for separation in this State, awarding her the custody of the child, if that was all she wanted. But she wanted more. She wanted to be rid of her husband as well, and evidently believed that, by reason of her financial independence she could accomplish both ends with impunity.

Since their separation the father has tried repeatedly to induce his wife to resume their lives together, for the sake of their child, but he has failed in what has been an almost continuous endeavor. The mother, however, has found these efforts at reconciliation most distasteful, and characterizes them by such fantastic terms as “ annoyance,” “ harassment ” and “ persecution.” While “ the occasion, cause and circumstances of the separation * * * may be taken into account ” in determining the question of the child’s welfare (People ex rel. Sternberger v. Sternberger, 12 App. Div. 398), the conflicting testimony referred to above points to this first quarrel as merely the climax of the wife’s aversion to her husband, the origin and growth of which are clearly traceable to the wide difference between them in education, financial resources and social inclinations.

During April and October, 1925, the mother asked the father for an arranged divorce, but the father was opposed to it because of the harmful effect he believed it would have on the life and upbringing of Alan. The father notified the mother that he would take no part in proceedings which would deprive Alan of a home to which he felt the child was entitled.

[218]*218On May 3, 1925, the father took Alan to his mother’s home in the country at Norwalk, Conn., about forty-two miles from New York city. Thereafter a habeas corpus proceeding was brought by the mother in Connecticut through her then attorney, Homer S. Cummings, and upon the return of the writ an order was entered upon consent on May 29, 1925, granting the custody of Alan to the mother and further providing that the father should have certain rights of visitation, for a period of two weeks in the fall of 1925, also for a period of two months in the spring of 1926, beginning at such date as he might select, and for a further period of four months during each twelve months commencing June 1, 1926.

The mother left the State of New York August 5, 1925, and went to Reno, Nev., taking the child-with her, all without the father’s knowledge or consent. She left the State of New York with the intention of acquiring a residence in the State of Nevada and for the sole purpose of procuring a divorce. Knowing that a divorce decree obtained in Nevada without appearance on the part of the father would be invalid in the State of New York, she attempted to procure such an appearance by offering the father the sum of $75,000. The father refused and has continued to refuse to accept any money from the mother on the basis of such a consideration. In the spring of 1926 she sent the child from Reno, Nev., to New York, in charge of a nurse, to visit his father under the terms of the Connecticut consent order.

On September 11, 1926, the mother procured a Nevada divorce by default. The father did not appear personally or by counsel in the divorce proceedings, nor was he served with process in the State of Nevada, nor has he ever been in the State of Nevada. In the same month of September, 1926, the mother returned to New York city and took up residence at No. 14 East Sixtieth street, borough of Manhattan. From 1925 to 1928 the father exercised his right of visitation by having Alan four months of each year. During the summer and fall of 1928 the father made arrangements for his son Alan to be admitted to the Lincoln School, a private school owned and operated by Teachers’ College of Columbia University.

In order to avoid interruptions in Alan’s schooling, the father desired that modifications be made in the Connecticut order of May 29, 1925, so that Alan should be kept in the city of New York during the school year and the father could see him at weekends or other convenient times. As a result, the following agreement in writing was made on November 10, 1928, between counsel for the mother and father and approved by the parties:

[219]*2191. Mr. Glendening is to see Alan twice a month, that is, every other weekend while he is at school, Alan to be sent to Mr. Glendening’s quarters Saturday afternoon immediately after lunch and to remain with him for two or three hours, as may be arranged at the time, Mr. Glendening to have the privilege once a month to take the boy with him to Mr. Glendening’s mother on a weekend on one of these semi-monthly visits, taking him after lunch on Saturday and bringing him back early Sunday evening. In case of illness Mr.

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Related

People ex rel. Glendening v. Glendening
259 A.D. 384 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1940)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
159 Misc. 215, 288 N.Y.S. 840, 1936 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-glendening-v-glendening-nysupct-1936.