Court Opinion

ID: 9755972
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 21:01:22.931295+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:13.470507
License: Public Domain

Inglis, J.
(dissenting in part). I concur in all of the conclusions of the opinion except that relating to the order allowing counsel fees to the defendant on the appeal. With that, I disagree. The exact question involved is whether, after a husband and wife have been divorced, he may be made liable for his former wife’s counsel fees in resisting his application for modification of the custody order contained in the judgment.
In considering the authorities on this subject in other jurisdictions it must be borne in mind that in this state we have no statute which authorizes the making of allowances for counsel fees in divorce actions. Such allowances here are based on the common law. All of the cases cited in the opinion as holding that an allowance may be made to a divorced wife after the rendition of final judgment of divorce, in connection with an application for modification of the judgment for the custody of children, with the possible exception of Strauch v. Strauch, 196 Okla. 184, 186, 164 P.2d 220, are decided under statutes. These statutes specifically authorize the making of such an allowance during the pendency of a divorce action and the only question for the decision of the court was whether, in view of the fact that the court had continuing jurisdiction to modify *264its decree relating to custody, the action was still pending'under the statute. Clearly, these cases are no authority to support the making of an allowance in a state where there is no statute providing for it and where the divorced wife’s right to it must rest in common law.
Even in states where statutes expressly give the courts power to order allowances during the pendency of the action, there is good authority to the effect that such statutes do not apply to proceedings relating to the custody of children which are had after final judgment of divorce. Wallace v. Wallace, 273 Mass. 62, 64, 172 N.E. 914; Lake v. Lake, 194 N.Y. 179, 185, 87 N.E. 87. These cases rest upon the reasoning that since the divorce decree has terminated the' relationship of husband and wife, the husband has no further obligation to finance his former wife’s litigation. So far as the reasoning of these cases is concerned, therefore, they offer support for the position that, at common law, the former husband may not be compelled to pay his divorced wife’s counsel fees in proceedings for change in the custody of their children.
In Connecticut the question has never before been decided. The closest that we have come to a decision of it is a dictum in Morgan v. Morgan, 104 Conn. 412, 417, 133 A. 249. "We there said, after referring to several cases in other jurisdictions which upheld the power of the court to make allowances to defend prior to the final judgment of divorce: “As we read them, none of those cases go so far as to hold that the allowance can be made after the entry of a strictly final judgment. Even where the question is not a jurisdictional one, as in the instant case, it is the general rule that an allowance will not be granted after the appeal has gone to a final decision.”
*265The basis in this state upon which allowances to defend or prosecute a divorce action or to prosecute or defend an appeal from a divorce decree have been made to a wife is well stated in Steinmann v. Steinmann, 121 Conn. 498, 504, 186 A. 501: “An allowance to a wife for expenses of litigation in a divorce action had its origin in the complete control which until recent times the husband had over all property, not only that which was his own but also that which his wife had at the time of the marriage or which she might acquire during coverture. While the changes in the rights of married women now permit them to own property in their own right and largely dispose of it as they will, it still remains true that usually the control of the property to which the wife looks for support rests with the husband. The basis of the allowance is that she should not be deprived of her rights because she lacks funds which may be supplied from property in which as a wife she has a real interest but which is usually within the control of the husband.”
It is a fundamental principle in our jurisprudence that ordinarily one litigant is not to be called upon to pay the litigation expenses of his adversary except to the extent that the statute may provide indemnity to a winning party by way of taxable costs. The common-law rule permitting the making of allowances to wives for counsel fees in divorce actions is an exception to the general principle. I can see no justification for extending the exception to situations which do not fall within the reason for the rule.
When a judgment of divorce becomes final the relationship of husband and wife is terminated. The man is no longer responsible for the woman’s support. Whatever rights the woman had for support or whatever rights she had, by virtue of the marriage, *266to the property standing in the man’s name have been merged in the award of alimony and have ceased to exist. After the divorce it can no longer be assumed that she has any right in, or even the color of a claim to, that property. The two are separate and distinct persons, each owning his or her property independently. Consequently, the real reason which justified the making of an allowance so long as they remained husband and wife no longer applies. If the reason upon which the common-law rule is based does not exist after the marriage has been terminated, it is obvious that the rule should not be extended to compel the former husband to finance the former wife’s litigation even though that litigation concerns the custody of their children.
This line of reasoning is supported by cases in other jurisdictions in which the courts quite uniformly have decided, independently of statute, that, after divorce, the former wife is not entitled to an allowance from the former husband in proceedings relating to the modification of the provisions for custody in the divorce decree. McKinley v. McKinley, 241 Ala. 245, 246, 2 So.2d 451; Nelson v. Nelson, 146 Ark. 362, 367, 225 S.W. 619; Carter v. Carter, 156 Md. 500, 507, 144 A. 490; Robinson v. Robinson, 112 Miss. 224, 225, 72 So. 923. I am satisfied that the court erred in ordering the allowance of counsel fees in the present ease.