ued alimony could have been modified or set aside in State A
prior to its merger in the judgment, such a judgment, by the law of
State A, is not lacking in finality.[71] As to the finality of alimony
decrees in general, the Court had previously ruled that where such a
decree is rendered, payable in future instalments, the right to such
instalments becomes absolute and vested on becoming due, provided no
modification of the decree has been made prior to the maturity of the
instalments.[72] However, a judicial order requiring the payment of
arrearages in alimony, which exceeded the alimony previously decreed, is
invalid for want of due process, the respondent having been given no
opportunity to contest it.[73] "A judgment obtained in violation of
procedural due process," said Chief Justice Stone, "is not entitled to
full faith and credit when sued upon in another jurisdiction."[74]

A recent example of a custody case was one involving a Florida divorce
decree which was granted _ex parte_ to a wife who had left her husband
in New York, where he was served by publication. The decree carried with
it an award of the exclusive custody of the child, whom the day before
the husband had secretly seized and brought back to New York. The Court
ruled that the decree was adequately honored by a New York court when,
in _habeas corpus_ proceedings, it gave the father rights of visitation
and custody of the child during stated periods, and exacted a surety
bond of the wife conditioned on her delivery of the child to the father
at the proper times,[75] it having not been "shown that the New York
court in modifying the Florida decree exceeded the limits permitted
under Florida law. There is therefore a failure of proof that the
Florida decree received less credit in New York than it had in Florida."

COLLATERAL ATTACK BY CHILD

A Florida divorce decree was also at the bottom of another recent case
in which the daughter of a divorced man by his first wife, and his
legatee under his will, sought to attack his divorce in the New York
courts, and thereby indirectly his third marriage. The Court held that
inasmuch as the attack would not have been permitted in Florida under
the doctrine of _res judicata_, it was not permissible under the full
faith and credit clause in New York.[76] On the whole, it appears that
the principle of _res judicata_ is slowly winning out against the
principle of domicile.

Decrees of Other Types

PROBATE