Excerpt from The Law of Domestic Relations of the State of New York: With Forms Including Marriage, Divorce, Separation, Rights and Liabilities of Married Women, Dower, Actions for Dower, Guardian and Ward, Adoption of Children, Apprentices and Servants, Abandonment of Wives and Children, and Support of Poor Persons by Rel Since the first edition of this work in 1898, there have been important amendments to the statutes, together with a large number of judicial decisions thereon, resulting in many changes in the law governing matrimonial actions and the domestic relations. A second edition bringing the work down to date has thus become necessary. In this edition all amendments and additions to the statute up to and including the amendments by the Legislature of 1902 are incorporated. Among the more vital statutory changes of the law, attention may be called to the following: The"common-law marriage" provable by cohabitation and reputation has been abolished, and unless there be a solemnization of marriage by a clergyman or a magistrate duly authorized, the contract of marriage must be evidenced by a writing. In actions for divorce corespondents are now permitted to come in and defend with, it seems, substantially the same rights as parties. The wisdom of this addition to the statute is apparent, as the plaintiff can now only prefer charges of adultery against third persons at the peril of being charged with costs upon the failure of proof. The rights of action of married women carrying on separate business is enlarged. A large number of statutes have been amended in minor particulars, which are yet of vital importance to the practitioner. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.