Leeds v. Joyce

Headnote

Husband and wife — action to annul marriage — sufficiency of evidence to establish common-law marriage.

Leeds v. Joyce, 202 App. Div. 696 , affirmed.

Appeal, by permission, from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the first judicial department, entered August 10, 1922, unanimously affirming a judgment in favor of defendant entered upon a dismissal of the complaint by the court on trial at Special Term. The action was to annul a marriage upon the ground that -defendant at the time of the ceremony was married to another man. The testimony established that the plaintiff was fully cognizant of all the facts and circumstances in connection with the defendant’s first marriage and her divorce from her former husband, and that after the obstacle to their marriage had been removed they continued living together as man and wife and held themselves out to be a lawfully married couple. The Appellate Division held that under these

circumstances the marriage might be treated as validated as a common-law marriage.