Title: Lamer v. Lamer
Citation: 170 Kan. 579, 228 P.2d 718
Docket Number: 38,087
State: Kansas
Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court
Date: March 10, 1951

170 Kan. 579 (1951)
228 P.2d 718
ELIZABETH LAMER, Appellee,
v.
LLOYD H. LAMER, Appellant.
No. 38,087

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed March 10, 1951.
D.E. Watson, of Salina, argued the cause and was on the briefs for the appellant.
Eugene H. Linville, of Salina, argued the cause, and Sanford Manker, of Salina, was with him on the briefs for the appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
HARVEY, C.J.:
Plaintiff sued her husband for divorce upon the grounds of extreme cruelty and gross neglect of duty. In her petition she alleged facts showing jurisdiction of the court, gave the date of their marriage and the names and ages of three minor children born to them; alleged that by their joint efforts they accumulated *580 an equity in a two-acre tract of ground in the city of New Cambria, which tract has a residence thereon which is the home of the parties and their children, and that they had also accumulated household furniture and fixtures. It was further alleged that plaintiff is a fit and proper person to have the custody and control of the minor children; that defendant is a strong, able-bodied man, and then employed, earning $210 per month, and that plaintiff and her children are entirely dependent upon him for support. The prayer was that plaintiff be granted an absolute divorce from defendant; that while the case is pending he be required to pay temporary alimony and child support and attorney's fee, and that the court grant plaintiff "an alimony judgment either in property or money"; that plaintiff be given the custody of the minor children and that defendant be required to support and maintain them. Upon plaintiff's motion therefor the court made an order that defendant pay $75 per month pending the action for the support of plaintiff and the minor children, and that defendant pay in court $50 to apply upon plaintiff's attorney's fee. There were other motions and restraining orders which need not be specifically noted.
Defendant filed an answer which contained a general denial of the allegations of the petition not specifically admitted, admitted the residence of the parties, their marriage and the birth of their children; alleged the accumulation of the New Cambria property, on which it was alleged there remained a loan of $850, and alleged the accumulation of personal property and household goods, which were described in detail, used by plaintiff and defendant in their home at New Cambria; specifically denied defendant had disregarded his marriage vows and obligations, and specifically denied that he had been guilty of an act or acts of extreme cruelty or gross neglect of duty, and alleged that he is a fit and proper person to have the care, custody and control of the minor children. The prayer of the answer was that plaintiff be denied a divorce, that the court determine the interest of plaintiff and defendant in the property described in the answer, and determine who shall have the care, custody and control of the minor children of the parties, and that he recover his costs and such other equitable relief as may be proper.
To this answer plaintiff filed a reply in which she denied all allegations of the answer inconsistent with the allegations of her petition, and specifically denied that defendant is a fit and proper *581 person to have the care, custody and control of the minor children.
No dates are given in the abstract when any of the pleadings or motions were filed in this case. At some time defendant asked that plaintiff file a bill of particulars, and one was filed which covers about four pages of the printed abstract. Defendant moved to strike portions of that and to have it made definite and certain, and this motion seems to have been sustained in part. Whereupon plaintiff filed an amended bill of particulars which covers more than six pages of the printed abstract, which concluded with the prayer that plaintiff be granted the equity of the parties in their New Cambria home and the furniture and fixtures therein so that she could have a home for herself and children. Defendant's motion to dismiss and his demurrer to plaintiff's amended specification of facts and reply were by the court considered and denied. There was a trial, which we are told consumed three and one-half days. From this the court made the following conclusions of fact and law:
Defendant moved the court to strike conclusions of law Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, and further moved the court to render judgment denying plaintiff a divorce and in his favor for costs. He also filed a motion for a new trial upon substantially all the statutory grounds. These motions were heard by the court, considered and denied. The court rendered a decree in harmony with its conclusions of fact and of law. Defendant has appealed.
It will be noted that the parties are still husband and wife. No divorce was granted to plaintiff, and defendant did not ask for one. After the appeal defendant desired to continue paying the $75 a month for the support of the children, but was afraid if he did so he would be held to have conformed to the decree in that respect to the extent that it would bar his appeal. He therefore asked this court to permit him to continue those payments without affecting his right to appeal, and the court granted that request.
Appellant contends the court erred in overruling his demurrer to plaintiff's petition with its amended bill of particulars and reply upon the ground that they did not state facts sufficient to state a cause of action. We have examined this contention and find no substantial merit therein.
At the beginning of the trial defendant moved for a continuance because of the absence of material evidence which would be produced and testified to by Don Pierce, the oldest son of plaintiff, of El Reno, Okla., and made an affidavit as to what he understood Pierce would testify to if present. The defendant never made any *584 effort to have him present for the trial or to take his deposition. The court overruled the motion. This was not error. More than that, the record indicates that what defendant thought Pierce would testify to would be nothing more than cumulative of evidence which was presented.
Appellant contends that his motion to render judgment for defendant denying divorce to plaintiff and for further judgment for defendant for his costs, made after the court had made its conclusions of fact and of law, should have been sustained, and points out that the court did not make a specific finding of "just cause shown," citing, G.S. 1949, 60-1506; Brauchi v. Brauchi, 165 Kan. 542, 195 P.2d 589; Perkins v. Perkins, 154 Kan. 73, 114 P.2d 804; In re Cooper, 86 Kan. 573, 121 Pac. 334; Bowers v. Bowers, 70 Kan. 164, 78 Pac. 430. The argument is that the court having found no cause for granting the divorce the case should have closed at that point with judgment for defendant. The plaintiff in her petition and the defendant in his answer had asked the court to make an order respecting the custody of the children, and respecting the rights of the parties as to the property. The statute cited conferred that authority upon the court, and an examination of the cases cited tends to support the order of the court rather than to oppose it. The point is not well taken.
Appellant contends that no attorney fees should have been granted to the plaintiff below. In this he relies heavily on Johnson v. Johnson, 57 Kan. 343, 46 Pac. 700, where it was held:
We do not find the case has been cited on that point. The holding should be limited to the facts of the case, which differ from the facts here. Defendant did ask for affirmative relief, as shown by his answer, previously mentioned, and by his brief in this court. Our statute (G.S. 1949, 60-1507) places the allowance of attorney fees for the wife in a divorce case largely to the discretion of the court. (See cases cited under the section, particularly Hawley v. Hawley, 164 Kan. 176, 188 P.2d 650.) Under the facts in this case we find no abuse of the court's discretion in the allowance of attorney fees. The case was bitterly contested on every point. Appellant argues:
Under this heading appellant reviews the evidence, with a sharp criticism of the testimony of a number of the witnesses. We have examined all of this testimony which has been abstracted by either side and find no just reason to complain of the result reached by the trial court. Certainly, the credibility of the witnesses and the weight to be given to their testimony was for the trial court and is not for this court. Neither do we think the trial court abused its discretion in letting plaintiff have the home, since it was the only available method of providing a home for the children. Neither was it error to give the custody of the children to the mother. They are of an age that they need maternal care, and of course the appellant is away from home during the day while at work. In view of his limited income and assets the expense of this appeal will be burdensome upon him, but that is not a matter which the trial court or this court could control.
Appellant's complaint of the overruling of his motion for a new trial is not well taken.
We find no error in the record. The judgment of the court below is affirmed.