A Six-Month Divorce Rule Meets a Quick Idaho Wedding

A complaint was filed in Judge Moore's court yesterday bearing upon the subject of adultery. The law of this state provides that when parties are divorced neither shall marry until the expiration of six months from the date of the decree.

In arguing the application for alimony in the case of Louisa Nelson against William Nelson, the point was raised that the wife was divorced in this state and was illegally married a few days afterward in the state of Idaho. Being therefore illegally married, the contention was, she was not entitled to alimony as provided for under the laws of Washington.

On the other side counsel insisted that a marriage according to the laws of one state is legal in any state or nation.

Authorities were cited, dating back for more than a century, including a decision involving the legality of title to an estate in England. The parents of the claimant were married in Switzerland shortly after a divorce had been granted in England. It was claimed by the contestants that the parties fled to Switzerland to evade the law of England, and that the offspring of such a marriage was illegitimate. The court, in that case, held that a valid marriage in one country is valid in any country. Authorities to the contrary were also cited and the case was taken under advisement.

The final decision of this question involves the legality of a great many marriages in this locality, the legitimacy of a great number of children, and possibly a large amount of litigation over the validity of titles to real estate in years to come. In view of the records, it would mean the ruin of a number of prominent citizens who are living together in a state of open and notorious adultery if the proposition is sustained that a person divorced in Washington may not legally marry in Idaho until after the expiration of the time prescribed by the statute of Washington.