CONFLICT OF LAWS-FULL FAITH AND CREDIT-CUSTODY DECREES

Husband and wife, living in Ohio, were separated in 1945, the only child going to live with the paternal great-grandfather in Pennsylvania. Husband and wife were divorced in Ohio in April 1949. Custody of the child was awarded the wife, but because of the wife's defective vision the child was to remain temporarily with the great-grandfather; it was further provided that the custody question could be relitigated after eighteen months. On October 26, 1949, the wife got a further Ohio decree awarding her sole custody.

The great-grandfather refused to surrender the child, and wife filed a petition for habeas corpus in Pennsylvania, November 2, 1949. The Superior Court reversed the trial court and granted the writ. Held, reversed, two judges dissenting. The Ohio court did not have jurisdiction to make the custody decree of October 26, and therefore the decree need not be given full faith and credit in Pennsylvania.

Commonwealth ex rel. Graham v. Graham, 367 Pa. 553, 80 A (2d) 829 (1951).