Opinion ID: 1559676
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Petitioner's Right To Support

Text: The sole issue presented in this portion of our opinion is whether or not, after affording full faith and credit to the ex parte decree obtained by respondent, our action in this regard necessitates a further finding that petitioner's right to support has terminated. In reaching a conclusion on this query, we are guided both by pronouncements of the United States Supreme Court, and our view as to the intent of the legislature when it enacted the uniform reciprocal enforcement of support act. The concept of divisible divorce initially foreshadowed by the Supreme Court in two concurring opinions in the case of Esenwein v. Commonwealth, supra, was first announced by a majority of that court in Estin v. Estin, supra. There it was decided that a Nevada court which had no personal jurisdiction over the wife had no power to terminate the husband's obligation to provide for her support as required by a preexisting New York separation decree. This rule clearly founded upon well-established due process considerations, announced in Pennoyer v. Neff, [3] 95 U.S. 714, 24 L.Ed. 565, was stated as follows: The result in this situation is to make the divorce divisible  to give effect to the Nevada decree insofar as it affects marital status and to make it ineffective on the issue of alimony. Later in Vanderbilt v. Vanderbilt, 354 U.S. 416, 77 S.Ct. 1360, 1 L.Ed.2d 1436, the court expanded the scope of divisible divorce, by holding that the rule in Estin was not limited to instances where the wife had obtained her support order prior to the husband's acquisition of a foreign divorce decree but was likewise applicable where the wife had secured her order for support in her own state subsequent to finalization of the foreign divorce decree. Since the broad and novel [4] declaration of the court in Estin, a steadily increasing number of states have brought their domiciliaries within the protection it affords by adopting the rule that a valid ex parte divorce does not operate to cut off the spouse's right to support. See Hudson v. Hudson, 52 Cal.2d 735, 344 P.2d 295 and related Note, Conflict of Laws: Divisible Divorce in California, 48 Cal. L. Rev. 303; White v. White, 83 Ariz. 305, 320 P.2d 702; Hopson v. Hopson, 95 U.S. App. D.C. 285, 221 F.2d 839, 847; Willoughby v. Willoughby, 178 Kan. 62, 283 P.2d 428; Davis v. Davis, Ky., 303 S.W.2d 256; Vanderbilt v. Vanderbilt, 1 N.Y.2d 342, 135 N.E.2d 553. The reasons for this polarization are clear. The Estin rule does no more than carry over traditional notions of due process to the field of domestic relations. It speaks in terms of property rights possessed by the wife and declares that these cannot be affected by a divorce-decreeing state that lacks personal jurisdiction over her. But, in order for the rule in Estin to accrue to the advantage of such a spouse, her property rights, i.e., her right to support, must continue under the laws of her own state after the husband has succeeded in severing the marital bond. Otherwise, the Estin rule does not benefit her, because if the policy of her own jurisdiction denies the survival of support rights after the entry of a valid decree of divorce, then her property rights would be terminated by the law of her own state, and not by the law of a foreign jurisdiction. Thus it is, that more and more states in order to protect the property rights of their domiciliaries have adopted the view that the right to support is not terminated by a valid ex parte divorce decree. Some have accomplished this objective by legislative fiat and others have realized this goal by judicial decision. See Annot. 28 A.L.R.2d 1378 and later case service for extensive treatment of this subject. Ordinarily, when a state is cast in a role of third state, as we are in the proceedings before us, the course to be followed is to determine the law of the wife's domicile as to the survival of support rights and to utilize that law as the basis for decision. See: Hudson v. Hudson, supra; Lewis v. Lewis, 49 Cal.2d 389, 317 P.2d 987; Worthley v. Worthley, 44 Cal.2d 465, 283 P.2d 19. We will not adhere to that procedure for two reasons. First, we do not, on the record before us, have any evidence of the law of Massachusetts. It is well settled that in such circumstances this court will not of its own initiative take judicial notice of the law of another state. Potemkin v. Leach, 65 R.I. 1, 13 A.2d 250. Secondly, we feel that the legislature's enactment of chap. 11, title 15, the uniform reciprocal enforcement of support act, reflects a broad and important declaration of public policy which we cannot ignore. We will, therefore, determine petitioner's rights wholly upon the law of this state. [5] In Wilford v. Wilford, 38 R.I. 55, 94 A. 685, this court held that the wife's right to alimony survives a valid divorce subject only to the defenses of laches and waiver. There both parties appeared before our superior court and the divorce decree made no provision for alimony. Our ruling was that the wife had not surrendered her right to alimony by failure to make a claim for it within the six-month limitation necessary under the statute providing for alimony in lieu of dower, but could bring a petition at any time after final decree subject to the above-mentioned defenses. Having held that a wife's right to alimony is incidental to, but separate from a divorce decree granted within our state, we feel no hesitancy in holding that a wife's right to support also continues undiminished when her spouse leaves our state and obtains a divorce in another state where the foreign court never had personal jurisdiction over her. We do not consider the nomenclature of petitioner's right to be determinative here. The pertinent statute directs us to follow the course of equity. [6] In so doing, we rely upon our inherent powers in equity to look to the substance rather than the form of the right asserted. See: Hudson v. Hudson, supra; Hopson v. Hopson, supra; Forstner v. Speidel, 1 F.2d 988 (D.C. R.I.); 76 Harv. L. Rev., 1233, 1241. We feel that it makes little difference whether petitioner's claim is designated as one for support or alimony. What is important is that respondent here has so far avoided his responsibilities arising out of his marriage by simply absenting himself from Massachusetts. Throughout these proceedings respondent has maintained the reciprocal support statute is applicable only when there is continuing marital relationship between the parties. We disagree. Today, we live in a society of remarkable mobility. A Rhode Islander, besieged with wanderlust may, upon payment of the proper fee, be jet-propelled across this vast continent within a matter of hours to one of our sister states bordering the Pacific Ocean. Whether by plane, train or automobile, this increased mobility of our population has given rise to another problem. Occasionally, one who is charged with the duty of support, finds the call of the road irresistible. Prior to reciprocal support legislation, the dependents of one so irresponsible were left in a woeful state to fend for themselves. In most instances they could not afford to pursue the slacker for whom sanctuary from the rightful demands of support was assured in another state. Accordingly, the primary purpose for enactment of this legislation was to provide a vehicle through which dependents might obtain support from those who seek to avoid their obligations by the simple expedient of crossing state lines. In our opinion, chap. 11 of title 15 is an act remedial in nature, [7] that should be liberally construed for the purposes for which it was enacted. As the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said in M. v. W., 352 Mass. 704, 707, 227 N.E.2d 469, 471,    every `endeavor should be made ... to render this support statute operable.' We believe that the petitioner in this case is entitled to prosecute her petition for support. To hold otherwise would nullify the legislature's efforts to require a spouse domiciled in Rhode Island to discharge his obligations assumed on his wedding day. The petitioner's appeal is sustained, the decree appealed from is reversed and the cause is remanded to the family court for further proceedings.