Wirth v. Wirth

Marbury, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court. A bill of complaint for a divorce a mensa, and for the custody of his six year old daughter was filed by the appellee in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City. The wife answered, testimony was taken on behalf of the husband, and at the conclusion of his case, counsel for the wife said he did not dispute the right of the husband to a divorce, and offered no testimony on this phase of the case. He stated that he was willing to put on his case with respect to the custody of the child, but said he did not see where there had been any evidence to indicate that the child should be taken from its mother.

The chancellor said he would have the Probation Department make an investigation and report before he determined this question, but that he would grant the a mensa divorce; The appellant made no objection to this procedure. Subsequently, after the report had been received, the chancellor signed a decree divorcing the parties a mensa, and giving the husband the custody of the child. From this decree the wife appeals. The evidence offered by the husband shows that the wife left his bed in July, 1947, for no apparent reason except that he went to a bowling tournament in Washington against her wishes.

In September she told him to leave the house, put his clothes packed in cartons in the vestibule, and changed the lock on the door. He then went to his mother’s home, and has since lived away from his own home. There is evidence indicating that the real cause of the expulsion of the husband was the presence of a male boarder, who was at the house so much that the child asked her grandmother why her ²³ “daddy” wasn’t there and why “Mr. Bob” (the boarder) was there. While there was only inferential corroboration of some of this testimony, it was not denied.

We think it sufficient to justify the divorce, and we are not disposed to overrule the chancellor who saw and heard the witnesses and