SARAH LYNDA NOLEN
v.
PAUL W. NOLEN

Fla. | 1935-10-01
Whitfield, C. J., and Brown and Davis, J. J., concur.
121 Fla. 130 Florida Supreme Court (1935) Positive Treatment
Also reported at: 163 So. 401
Cited by 41 cases

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Synopsis

In this 1935 Florida divorce case, the Supreme Court affirmed a divorce decree granting the husband a divorce on grounds of extreme cruelty and the wife's violent temperament, but reversed the alimony award to the wife because she was at fault and contributed nothing to the marital property.


Holding

The divorce decree was affirmed because substantial evidence supported findings of extreme cruelty and the wife's ungovernable temper. However, the award of permanent alimony to the wife was reversed because, as the at-fault party who had contributed nothing to the marital property, she had no equitable claim to alimony absent statutory entitlement, which did not apply under these circumstances.


Key Quotes

“There is probably no greater cruelty, which may be inflicted upon a self-respecting, peace-loving man than that which is inflicted by a contentious, unreasonable and nagging woman making his' life unhappy, and well nigh unbearable, by a continuous indulgence in faultfinding, nagging, threatening and false accusing her husband of improper and disgraceful conduct”

Establishes the court's recognition that psychological cruelty through nagging, threatening, and false accusations constitutes actionable extreme cruelty for divorce purposes.

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Facts & Procedural History

The record showed that for more than eight years, the defendant wife continuously subjected the complainant husband to cruel treatment through constan…

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Opinion of the Court
Buford, J.

Buford, J.

The appeal here is from a decree, of divorce granted on an amended bill of complaint with amendment thereto and testimony taken.

The amended bill of complaint sufficiently alleged two grounds of divorce, extreme cruelty and that defendant was possessed of a violent and ungovernable temper.

There is some conflict in the testimony but the record is sufficient to support the decree of the Chancellor.

In short, there is substantial evidence in the record to show that for more than eight years continuously the defendant’s treatment of the complainant was cruel and inhuman, not that she inflicted any physical injury, upon him by the administration of blows, or personal assault, but by continuously, both day and night, nagging at him in every conceivable way, quarrelling with him, threatening his life, accusing him of infidelity; threatening to kill him.and to kill herself, as well as to kill their daughter. The record shows that she would wake him up at all hours of the night when he needed rest, because he was a hardworking man, and at such times would proceed to abuse him, threaten him and accuse him of immoral conduct, of which he was not guilty and for which there was no foundation in fact.

*132The record shows that she was just such a woman as King Solomon referred to when he said: “It is better to dwell in a corner of the hous'etop than with a brawling woman in a wide house.” Proverbs 21:9; Proverbs 25:24. Solomon was evidently impressed with the truth of this statement because we find it repeated verbatim. Solomon was not only a man of great wisdom but he also had occasion to learn from broad experience much about women.

There is probably no greater cruelty, which may be inflicted upon a self-respecting, peace-loving man than that which is inflicted by a contentious, unreasonable and nagging woman making his' life unhappy, and well nigh unbearable, by a continuous indulgence in faultfinding, nagging, threatening and false accusing her husband of improper and disgraceful conduct, arousing him from his sleep at all hours of the night only to engage in a brawling, quarreling and abusive language. Such conduct on the part of a wife is bound to cause her husband a constant worry, anguish and grief, and renders cohabitation intolerable and unsafe.

The cross assignment of error challenges the propriety of the provision in the decree granting the divorced wife permanent alimony. We find no substantial support in the record for this item of the decree. It is clear that the decree of divorce was granted in this case because of the fault of the wife and that the suit was filed and maintained by the husband. Unless the granting of alimony is shown to be in Satisfaction of an established claim to equitable or other rights in jointly accumulated property, it must find support in statutory provisions. The record here totally fails to show that the wife contributed to the accumulation of the husband’s property in such manner as for her to be entitled in equity and good conscience to be decreed a substantial portion of it for her needs and maintenance. In fact, the *133record shows that for many years she has been a detriment rather than an aid. Therefore, she was only entitled to alimony if she could have the same under the provisions of our statute. The decree, having been obtained because of the fault and misconduct of the wife, the decree for permanent alimony was error. Phinney v. Phinney, 77 Fla. 850, 82 Sou. 357.

The cases in this jurisdiction are legion holding that where the testimony is conflicting, but there is ample evidence to support the findings of the Chancellor, the decree will not be reversed on the evidence. So the decree should be reversed in So far as it grants permanent alimony to the defendant and affirmed in all other respects. The costs of the appeal should be taxed one-half against each of the parties.

It is so ordered.

Affirmed except as to alimony.

Whitfield, C. J., and Brown and Davis, J. J., concur.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By (14 total)

  • Engebretsen v. Toley Engebretsen, 151 Fla. 372 (Fla. 1942)
    …should be granted on positive uncontroverted -testimony, legally- sufiieient to- sustain the allegations of the bill warranting divorce where not impeached or directly contradicted. See Plowman v. Plowman, 101 Fla. 641, 135 So. 125; Nolen v. Nolen, 121 Fla. 130, 163 So. 401. The evidence clearly es [*384] tablished the allegations of extreme cruelty. The order dismissing her counter claim was erroneous. Appellant here contends that the testimony adduced by the plaintiff below was legally insufficient to e…
  • Miller v. Bay-to-Gulf, Inc., 141 Fla. 452 (Fla. 1940)
    …h. Rep. 845; Frickling Properties, Inc., [*458] v. Smith, 123 Fla. 556, 167 South. Rep. 42; Walter J. Dolan Properties, Inc., v. Vonnegut, 117 Fla. 830, 158 South. Rep. 457; Sabin v. City of Daytona, 130 Fla. 62, 177 South. Rep. 229; Nolen v. Nolen, 121 Fla. 130, 163 South. Rep. 401; Johns v. Gillian, 134 Fla. 575, 184 South. Rep. 140. There is ample evidence in the record to support the finding of the chancellor that there was no fraud in' connection with the sale of the land to appellants. The third cont…
  • Masilotti v. Masilotti, 150 Fla. 86 (Fla. 1942)
    …h, personal safety and conduct or to render life an oppressive and intolerable burden, making it impracticable to perform marital duties. See Godwin v. Godwin, 139 Fla. 302, 190 So. 603; Riesner v. Riesner, 130 Fla. 489, 178 So. 164; Nolen v. Nolen, 121 Fla. 130, 163 So. 401; Croghan v. Croghan, 78 Fla. 455, 83 So. 460; Hickson v. Hickson, 54 Fla. 556, 45 So. 474; Prall v. Prall, 56 Fla. 521, 47 So. 916. In the case of Phillips v. Phillips, supra, we held that as a general rule the condonation of a marital…

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