DIVORCE ACT OF 1930.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20870, 12 May 1931, Page 11

DIVORCE ACT OF 1930.

VALIDITY TO BE TESTED. QUESTION OF WIFE'S DOMICILE. [BY TELEGRAM. —rRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Monday. An undefended petition for divorce by Florence K. Worth, against Charles Stanhope Worth on tho ground of alleged separation or desertion—the first to be brought under tho Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act, 1930 —was removed by Mr. Justico Blair to-day to the Court of Appeal to test the validity of the Act and in particular, section 3, relating to the question of domicile. This section sets out that where a wife living in New Zealand petitions for a divorce on»any ground and has been living in New Zealand for not less than three years immediately preceding the filing of tho petition, and has such intention of residing permanently in New Zealand as would constitute a New Zealand domicile in tho case of a femme sole, and has been living apart from her husband for a period exceeding three years, she shall bo deemed to be domiciled in New Zealand and to have been, at tho time of tho petition, domiciled here for two years at least within tho meaning of section 10 of the Act. The question arose, said His Honor, as to the jurisdiction of Parliament to make tho provision. By arrangement with his brother Judges it had been decided that tho first caso brought under tho 1930 Act should bo referred to tho Court of Appeal for the purpose of ob taining a decision on the validity of the Act.