Can anyone comment on the divorce "rules" of the 1950s? I know NY had some very conservative ways of dealing with divorce issues. My grandparents were divorced in 1953 in FL. They were both from NY and lived in NY all their lives. In the divorce papers, my grandmother is listed as living in FL, grandfather in NY. What I find strange is the following: grandmother plaintiff, files divorce based on cruelty, grandfather, doesn't contest, but gets custody of a minor child. This seems odd to me that the father would get custody in the 50s, and especially if the reason for divorce was cruelty. Was "cruelty" one of the few reasons for divorce? Why would the mother not get custody? I know this is more a "history/law type of question, but it is pertinent to my genealogy studies and I thought one of you may have crossed this issue before. If anyone knows or can shed some light of divorce rules for the 50s, I'd appreciate it. Thanks, Liz _________________________________________________________________ Making the world a better place one message at a time. http://www.imtalkathon.com/?source=EML_WLH_Talkathon_BetterPlace

As the divorce was filed and granted in Florida you need to know the laws of Florida at that time. I am going to take a guess at the custody issue. If he did not contest the divorce, custody of the minor child was probably something they agreed to privately. Are you certain custody was part of the divorce and not a separate action? Is it possible he was the biological father of the child but she was not the biological mother? Without court documents you will never know. Florida divorce records are public information. Some are on line. Elizabeth V. Cardinal evc1369@comcast.net

I was thinking that the custody was agreed upon or perhaps the child was old enough to decide. The divorce papers say that the defendant, my grandfather would get custody of the child. That's all I know. I don't know if it was agreed upon and it just appearsas such on the papers. I know they were both the biological parents of the child. I have the divorce papers, thanks to Florida's online access. Thanks for your help. > From: evc1369@comcast.net> To: nyqueens@rootsweb.com; nyc-roots@rootsweb.com; nynassau@rootsweb.com; nynewyor@rootsweb.com; nysuffol@rootsweb.com> Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:20:55 -0400> Subject: Re: [NYNEWYOR] [NYQUEENS] Divorce in the 1950s> > As the divorce was filed and granted in Florida you need to know the laws of> Florida at that time.> > I am going to take a guess at the custody issue. If he did not contest the> divorce, custody of the minor child was probably something they agreed to> privately.> > Are you certain custody was part of the divorce and not a separate action?> > Is it possible he was the biological father of the child but she was not the> biological mother?> > Without court documents you will never know.> > Florida divorce records are public information. Some are on line.> > > Elizabeth V. Cardinal> evc1369@comcast.net> > > > > Jim Garrity, List Administrator> jimgarrity@earthlink.net> -------------------------------> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYNEWYOR-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message _________________________________________________________________ Time for vacation? WIN what you need- enter now! http://www.gowindowslive.com/summergiveaway/?ocid=tag_jlyhm

Hi, I could be wrong, but if memory serves, I think that if adultery or abandonment was found that the mother would not get custody. Janet ----- Original Message ----- From: "Elizabeth Martinez-Gibson" <cosette.58@hotmail.com> To: <nyc-roots@rootsweb.com>; <nynassau@rootsweb.com>; <nynewyor@rootsweb.com>; <nyqueens@rootsweb.com>; <nysuffol@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 8:08 AM Subject: [NYNEWYOR] Divorce in the 1950s > Can anyone comment on the divorce "rules" of the 1950s? I know NY had some > very conservative ways of dealing with divorce issues. > > My grandparents were divorced in 1953 in FL. They were both from NY and > lived in NY all their lives. In the divorce papers, my grandmother is > listed as living in FL, grandfather in NY. > > What I find strange is the following: grandmother plaintiff, files divorce > based on cruelty, grandfather, doesn't contest, but gets custody of a > minor child. This seems odd to me that the father would get custody in the > 50s, and especially if the reason for divorce was cruelty. Was "cruelty" > one of the few reasons for divorce? Why would the mother not get custody? > > I know this is more a "history/law type of question, but it is pertinent > to my genealogy studies and I thought one of you may have crossed this > issue before. > If anyone knows or can shed some light of divorce rules for the 50s, I'd > appreciate it. > > Thanks, > > Liz > _________________________________________________________________ > Making the world a better place one message at a time. > http://www.imtalkathon.com/?source=EML_WLH_Talkathon_BetterPlace > Jim Garrity, List Administrator > jimgarrity@earthlink.net > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NYNEWYOR-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >