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119 N.J. Eq. 462

183 A 220

Phillips v. Phillips

Supreme Court of New Jersey

Decided January 31, 1936

Supreme Court of New Jersey · decided 1936-01-31

Relies on 111 N.J. Eq. 529 - Apfelbaum v. Apfelbaum · Calame v. Calame · 116 N.J. Eq. 101 - Second Nat. Bank of Paterson v. Curie

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1936-01-31

How this case has been cited

Cited by 39 later decisions — most recently February 1999 · most notably McMillan McMillan Freedom Finance Co Inc, 55 N.J. Super. 273 - Flicker v. Chenitz (1959)

5 federal appellate · 8 district · 20 state decisions

1001936194019501960197019801990decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Brogan, Chief-Justice.

¶1 (Dissenting.)

¶2 I am unable to concur in the opinion of the majority.

¶3 This is the wife’s bill praying performance of an agreement between herself and her husband, made while a divorce suit between them was pending. The agreement comprehends alimony and maintenance and is based, not only on the duty of a husband to support a wife but upon a relinquishment of the wife’s inchoate dower right and a release of her rights in his real and personal property as well. She made no application for alimony, relying on the agreement and, furthermore, she surrendered her right of dower and whatever rights she had in the husband’s property. She prays a decree for the installments due and owing under the agreement, and which are in arrears.

¶4 That equity is powerless to compel the performance of this class of contract in futuro is admitted. That equity is powerless to award a decree for the installments past due is denied. Head v. Head (English Chancery Reports), 3 Atk. 547; Calame v. Calame, 25 N. J. Eq. 548; Aspinwall v. Aspinwall, 49 N. J. Eq. 302; Mockridge v. Mockridge, 62 N. J. Eq. 570, and other eases. Nor does this view conflict, as I understand the cases, with Apfelbaum v. Apfelbaum, 111 N. J. Eq. 529, or Second National Bank v. Curie, 116 N. J. Eq. 101.

¶5 Equity has the power to compel the husband to pay that which he promised to pay and that which now is in default.

¶6 Having these views, I therefore vote to affirm the decree.

¶7 For affirmance —The Chief-Justice, Hetfield, JJ. 2.

¶8 For reversal —Lloyd, Case, Bodine, Donges, Heher, Perskie, Dear, Wells, WolfsKeil, Rafferty, JJ. 10.

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