Sharon v. Sharon

Citations

• 75 Cal. 1
• 16 P. 345
• 1888 Cal. LEXIS 480

Syllabus

<p>Marriage — Agreement for—Promise to Keep Secret. —An agreement between a man and a woman to become husband and wife, made per verba da prwscnti, is not invalidated by the fact that it contains a collateral promise by one of the parties not to make the marriage known until a future date, without the consent of the other.</p> <p>Id. —Unsolemnized Marriage—Present Consent to Marry—Assumption of Marital Rights and Duties — Consummation.—Under section 35 of the Civil Code, it is not necessary to the validity of a marriage not attended by a solemnization that the present consent to marry should he followed by a public mutual assumption of marital rights and duties. A present consent to marry, followed by a consummation, is sufficient to , constitute the marriage.</p> <p>Id.—Divorce — Counsel Fees must be Made Payable to Wife.— Under section 137 of the Civil Code, the money necessary to enable a wife to prosecute or defend an action of divorce should be ordered paid by the husband directly to her, and the court has no power to order it paid directly to her attorneys.</p> <p>Id. — Unreasonable Counsel Fees. — Under the circumstances of the case, the sum of fifty-five thousand dollars ordered to be paid by the husband to the wife’s attorneys as counsel fees, held, excessive, and an abuse of the discretion of the court, and that the number of attorneys employed by the wife to prosecute the action was unnecessarily large.</p> <p>Id. — Agreement by Attorney to Act on Contingency.—Pending an action for divorce, the wife has no necessity entitling her to an allowance for counsel fees, when her attorneys are faithfully and satisfactorily acting for her in pursuance of an agreement whereby they have, as compensation for their services, a contingent interest in the result of the litigation.</p> <p>Id. — Alimony—Reasonableness of Allowance. — The action was brought by a wife for a divorce, and the answer denied the marriage. On the trial, the evidence showed that the marriage had