Riley v. Riley
Florida District Court of Appeal
271 So. 2d 181 (1972)
- Written by Meredith Hamilton Alley, JD
Facts
George Riley (plaintiff) and Mary Riley (defendant) had been married for about 40 years when George filed for divorce in July 1971. George’s petition for divorce alleged that he and Mary no longer cohabitated and their marriage was irretrievably broken. Mary denied the allegations. At trial, George testified that during the last decade, he and Mary had a loveless marriage, but they stayed together for the sake of the children, who had since reached adulthood. According to George, there were no specific problems in the marriage, but he and Mary were indifferent to each other. Mary claimed that she and George had a happy marriage until the spring of 1971, when George met another woman. Mary was willing to reconcile. The trial court found that George had not shown that the marriage was irretrievably broken and dismissed the petition. George appealed to the Florida District Court of Appeal, arguing that the trial court had abused its discretion in dismissing his petition.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Johnson, J.)
Dissent (Spector, C.J.)
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