Pratt v. Pratt

Per Curiam. This appeal arises out of another minor engagement in the ceaseless war between men and women. The trial judge awarded the custody of two children to the wife. The appellant (husband) alleges error because, he says, the wife is an adulteress and a perjurer.

The circumstances, as related by the trial judge, are: “The testimony in this case reveals a marrige over a period of approximately sixteen years fraught with strife, separations and turmoil; these parties having previously been in court on at least two prior occasions over their marital difficulties. In reviewing the testimony of the witnesses in this case, the court is of the opinion that each of these two parties has seriously contributed to the marital difficulties and the ultimate separation, and for this reason neither is entitled to a divorce under the ‘clean hands’ doctrine of equity. “The more serious problem, and the one which gives the court more difficulty, is the question of custody of the two minor children born of this marriage. The thirteen year old daughter * * * has expressed an intense dislike for her father and has indicated that she would refuse to live with him under any circumstances. The other child, * * * [a boy], is only two years old; both of whom have resided with and been cared for by the * * * [wife] since their birth, and during previous periods of separation. ⁷¹⁸ “The testimony reveals that the * * * [wife] committed adultery in 1962, and further by her own admission perjured herself on the witness stand during the hearing of this case.

The act of adultery in 1962 was condoned by the * * * [husband] after he had full knowledge of same, and the parties subsequently lived together as man and wife until the final separation December 10, 1965, having ceased cohabiting as husband and wife August 22, 1965. The testimony further revealed that the final separation resulted from an altercation between the * * * [wife] and the * * * [husband] where the * * * [husband] assaulted the * * *