She is not liable to support him, however wealthy she may be, or poor he may be.
He is liable to support the children. She is not so liable, though possessed of millions.
The husband is the guardian of the wife, as against third persons. (Page 488). But he has no power to preserve, retain, or regain the custody of her against her will. (Page 47).
He may maintain his action against third persons for enticing her away or harboring her. But this harboring, to be actionable, must be more than a mere permission to her to stay with such third person. (4 Barb. 225).
If the husband seek to take away his wife by force, it is an assault and battery upon her. If a third person, resists such force at her request he is not liable to any action. (Barb. 156).
The wife is not the husband's guardian, but if he will desert her he may be put under bonds for her support and the support of her children by him. (2 Rev. Stat., 4th Ed., pp. 53, 54).
The husband is liable for the debts of the wife contracted before marriage, but only now to the extent of her property received by him. (7 W. R. 237, 1st Chitty Pl., 66 to 68, laws of 1853). And he is liable for her debts contracted during marriage, if permitted by him, or if for necessaries which he neglected to provide.
The wife is not liable for her husband's debts contracted at any time.
The law casts the custody of the minor children upon the father and not upon the mother. But if this custody is abused, it is by the Court to the mother.
The father may appoint a guardian for his infant children. (2 Rev. Stat. 33.) But the Court will not allow such guardian to take the children out of the State against the mother's will, much less to separate them unjustly from the mother even though the father's will command it. (5, page 596).