Transcribed Text
SCHOENNAUER v SCHOENNAUER
Opinion Per Crow, C.J. (77 Wash. Dec 1913)
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... Appellant insists that neither the Gibson nor the Ditmar case is pertinent, as in each of these the legal custody of the children had been awarded to the wife in a previous divorce decree. That circumstance does not preclude an application of the principle of those cases to the facts here shown. It is elementary law that the natural duty of a father imposes upon him a legal obligation to provide support for his minor children, and he cannot escape such duty by obtaining a decree of divorce from his nonresident and absent wife, upon constructive service, in an action in which he ignores the existence of his children, for whom he has made no provision, and whom he, in effect, abandons. The contention of appellant, if followed to its legitimate conclusion, would require us to hold that respondent is without remedy, although appellant has permitted her to retain the custody of the child, has not contributed to its support, and has ignored all parental obligation which the law has imposed upon him. This we cannot do.
The judgment is affirmed.
Parker, Gose, Chadwick, and Mount, JJ., concur.
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