98 THE LAW OF PERSONS Divorce a vinculo matri- monii. nuptial pact, in Holland not only might the spouses (or the survivor of them) alter the arrangement by testament, but the children, having reached the age of testamentary capacity, might do the like after their parents' death. They might also freely alienate the property by act inter vivos. This must be understood, of course, only where there was no fideicommissum in favour of ulterior successors.^ When a third person has become a party to the contract and has undertaken to leave his own property in a particular way, such undertaking has the force of a contract, and can only be revoked with the consent of the other parties to the agreement.^ With this we leave the subject of ante-nuptial contracts, referring the reader for fuller information to Voet's title 23. 4 {de pactis dotalibus) and to the other works in which this topic is fully considered.^ Section 5. Dissolution of Marriage Divorce a vinculo matrimonii is decreed by the Court at the suit of a plain tiflE of either sex on the ground of : (1) adodtery ; * or (2) malicious desertion;^ to which some authorities, by an extensive interpretation, add (3) sodomy ; * and (4) perpetual imprisonment. Relief may, in the discretion of the Court, be refused on the ground of : (a) adultery on the part of the plaintiff ; ^ (&) condonation ; (c) collusion or connivance.® Divorced persons are free to marry again, except that persons who have committed adultery together are prohibited from intermarriage.^"
Gr. 2. 29. 3 ; Voet, 23. 4. 66 (67). ' Voet, 23. 4. 67 (68).
^ See particularly Neostadius, Observationes rerwm jvdicatarum de pactis antenuptialibus.
- Gr. 1. 5. 18 ; Van Leeuwen, 1. 15. 1 ; Voet, 24. 2. 5.
Voet, 24. 2. 9.
« Schorer a*Gr. uU sup. ; V. d. K. Th. 88 ; V. d. L. 1. 3. 9. ' V. d. K. Th. 89 ; V. d. L. loo. cit. ; Jooste v. Jooste (1907) 24 S. C. 329 ; which discusses also the procedure to be followed in case of malicious desertion. * Voet, 24. 2. 5-6. " 1 Maasdorp, p. 82 ; Hasler v. Hasler (1896) 13 S. C. 377.
^" Supra, p. 66. As to custody of children see Van Leeuwen, 1. 15. 6.