Bates v. Bodie

Citations

• 245 U.S. 520
• 38 S. Ct. 182
• 62 L. Ed. 444
• 1918 U.S. LEXIS 2111

Syllabus

<p>When a case is here upon the ground that the court below denied full faith and credit to a decree of a court of another State, a motion to dismiss the writ of error based on the proposition that the decree was accorded- its due valúe under the statutes of the State of its rendition merely begs the question in issue and must be denied.</p> <p>The principles of estoppel by judgment are reviewed in the opinion and held to apply (semble with peculiar reason) to decrees for divorce and alimony.</p> <p>In a court of Arkansas, a wife, by her cross bill, sought absolute divorce, return of money lent her husband, and alimony “as the facts and law warrant, and all other proper and necessary relief” alleging that her husband owned certain real and personal property, including land in Nebraska. The decree granted the divorce as prayed; adjudged that the -wifé recover a stated sum “in full of alimony and all other demands set forth in cross bill,” recited that such judgment was rendered by the husband’s consent on condition that there be no appeal, made provisions for security, which the husband complied with, and awarded her certain personal property. After the husband had paid the judgment the wife-sued him in Nebraska to obtain further alimony out of the.Nebraska land, claiming that the Arkansas court had no jurisdiction to take it into consideration and did not do so. Held, that the face of the decree, with the cross bill, showed a plenary adjudication of the liability for alimony with consent of parties; that this was confirmed by the parties’ conduct, and the weight of-the testimony in this ease, concerning the former proceedings; that in yirtde of the consent, if not under the Arkansas statutes (Kirby’s Digest, §§ 2681, 2684), the decree was within the jurisdiction of the Arkansas court, and that the action of the court below in sustaining the plaintiff’s contentions and not accepting the decree as an estoppel was a denial of full faith and credit!</p>