Sargent v. Sargent

Citations

• 106 Cal. 541
• 39 P. 931
• 1895 Cal. LEXIS 638

Syllabus

<p>Husband and Wife—Desertion—Contract of Separation—Construction of Code—Revocation.—Section 101 of the Civil Code, which provides that “ consent to a separation is a revocable act, and, if one of the parties afterward in good faith, seeks a reconciliation and restoration, but the other refuses, such refusal is desertion,” was intended simply to declare the effect of such revocation upon the legal status of the parties as affecting desertion as a ground of divorce, and does not provide for a revocation of the contract of separation provided for in section 159 of the same code, which provides that husband and wife “ can agree in writing to an immediate separation, and may make provision for the support of either of them and of their children during such separation”; and, until avoided by the mutual resumption of marital duties, or the divorce of the parties, such contract remains binding and obligatory upon the parties thereto as effectually as any other contract, subject only to the limitation imposed by section 101.</p> <p>Id.—Contract for Custody of Children.—Parents have a right to contract with each other as to the custody and control of their offspring, and to stipulate away their parental rights; and such contracts are binding upon them until other disposition of the children is made in an action for divorce or other proceedings in which the court may dispose of the custody of the children.</p>