required, two witnesses necessary. No particular form shall declare in the presence of the judge, minister or magistrate, and the attending witnesses, that they take each other as husband and wife; and in every case there shall be at least two witnesses present, besides the person performing the ceremony. SEC. 12. All marriages solemnized among the people called Friends or Quakers, in the form heretofore Marriage among practiced and in use among them, shall be deemed valid, Friends or Quakers and shall not be invalidated by any of the foregoing provisions; the clerk of the meeting in which such marriage shall be solemnized, shall within two months thereafter, file a certificate of the same with the clerk of the district court of the county in which such marriage took place; and if he shall fail to file such certificate with said clerk, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dollars to and for the use of the county. And if such marriage do not take place in such meeting, then such certificate shall be signed by the parties contracting such marriage, and by at least two witnesses, and shall be filed and recorded as above provided and under like penalty and forfeiture. How fines to be recovered. Duty of County SEC. 13. Any fine or forfeiture arising to the county, in consequence of the breach of this act, shall be recovered by an action of debt, in the name of the State of Minnesota, or by indictment with costs of suit, in any court of record having cognizance of the same. SEC. 14. And it is hereby made the duty of the several county attorneys of this State, to prosecute any violations of the provisions of this act. SEC. 15. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of Duty of Secretary State to prescribe the form of registry, license and certificate, rendered necessary by the provisions of this act. of State. Approved March 2, 1865. CHAPTER XLVI. An Act to amend chapter fifty-three of the Compiled March 3, 1865. Statutes, relating to divorces. SECTION 1. Court may further order alimony. 2. When wife entitled to dower. 3. In such case, court may make further allowance to wife. 4. Complaint and notice-how served on defendant. 5. Repeal of inconsistent acts. 6. When act to take effect. Be itenacted by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota :” SECTION 1. Section twenty-three of chapter fiftythree, of the compiled statutes is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 23. Upon every divorce from the bond of matrimony, in an action brought by the wife, and in all cases where it is made fully to appear that in the causes leading to the divorce, justice and equity are on the Court may further side of the wife, if the estate and property restored or order alimony. awarded to the wife shall be insufficient for the suitable support and maintenance of herself and such children of the marriage as shall be committed to her care and custody, or if there be no such estate and property, the court may further order and decree to her such portion of the personal estate of the husband not exceeding one-third part thereof in value, and such real estate of the husband not exceeding three thousand dollars in value, as it shall deem just and reasonable, having regard to the ability of the husband and the character and situation of the parties and all the other circumstances of the same: Provided, That if the value of her dower in his lands, were he dead, would exceed the sum of three thousand dollars, then the court may decree to her of the lands more than three thousand dollars in value, but not beyond the value of such dower. The court may also in the cases provided for in this section, decree to the wife such alimony out of the estate of the husband, as it may deem just and rea to dower. sonable, having regard to the ability of the husband and the character and situation of the parties, and all the other circumstances of the case, and may by its decree make the same a specific lien upon any specified parcel or parcels of the real estate of the husband, or authorize its enforcement by execution against his property, real and personal; but the aggregate award and allowance made to the wife from the estate of her husband, under the provisions of this section, shall not in any case exceed in present value the one-third part of the personal estate of the husband and three thousand dollars in addition, except in cases where the value of her dower in his lands, were he dead, would exceed three thousand dollars, and in such cases such award and allowance shall not exceed in present value the onethird part of the personal property of the husband and the fair value of such dower in the lands. SEC. 2. Section twenty-four of said chapter fiftythree is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 24. When the marriage shall be dissolved by the husband being sentenced to imprisonment, and when a divorce shall be ordered for the cause of adultery When wife entitled committed by the husband, the wife shall be entitled to her dower of his lands in the same manner as if he were dead; but she shall not be entitled to dower in any other case of divorce: Provided however, That in case of divorce for either of the causes mentioned in this section, the wife may elect between the provisions of this section with reference to her husband's estate and the provisions of the next preceding section, but shall not be entitled to the benefit of both. Such election may be embodied in the complaint or it may be made at the time of moving for a final decree in the action, in which case it shall be made in writing and be filed with and become part of the record in the cause. allowance to wife. SEC. 3. Section twenty-five of said chapter fiftythree is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 25. In the cases mentioned in the last preIn such case court ceding section, if the wife shall not elect to have the may make further benefits of the preceding twenty-third section, the court may by order allow the wife for her subsistence, as much of her said personal or real estate, or of the income thereof, as such court shall judge necessary. SEC. 4. Section twelve of said chapter fifty-three is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Complaint and no on defendant. Section 12. A summons and copy of the complaint must be served upon the defendant personally, and when it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court, by the affidavit of the person making such service with ice-how served the certificate of the clerk of the court of the county to the identity of the officer taking the affidavit, it shall be deemed good and valid service, whether made in or out of this State, but when in the discretion of the court the summons and complaint cannot for any cause consistently be served on the defendant personally, then the court may order service of the summons by publication as in other actions, requiring in either case that the defendant shall answer the complaint within thirty days after service of the summons. SEC. 5. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with Repeal of inconthis act are hereby repealed. SEC. 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Approved March 3, 1865. sistent acts. CHAPTER XLVII. An Act to amend an Act relating to divorces. SECTION 1. Power of District Court in actions for divorce. 2. When wife not a resident may bring an action against husband. 3. Repeal of inconsistent acts. 4. When act to take effect. Beit enacted by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota: SECTION 1. That an act entitled "An act regula March 2, 1865. Power of District Court in actions for divorce. When wife not a an action against husband. ting divorces," approved February seventh, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be amended so as to read as follows: Section 1. That the, several district courts of the State of Minnesota be and they are hereby invested with the same powers and authority in actions for divorce from bed and board, as they now by law possess in actions for divorce from the bonds of matrimony, and that said courts, and the respective judges thereof, be and they are hereby authorized and empowered to make and grant such orders, decrees and judgments respecting property and the support and maintenance of and allowance to the wife and children, or either, in actions for a divorce from bed and board, as the said courts are now authorized and empowered to make and grant in actions for a divorce from the bonds of matrimony. SEC. 2. That when the husband has resided in this State one year or more, having left his wife in another resident may bring State, it shall be competent for the wife, without regard to residence, to bring an action in any district court of this State, of any district where said husband has so resided, to show cause for and to obtain a legal separation, either from bed and board or from the bonds. of matrimony, and such action shall be determined on its merits as provided by the laws of this State relating to divorces. Repeal of inconsistent acts. SEC. 3. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. SEC. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Approved March 2, 1865. |