53 Ark. 279 | Ark. | 1890
It is provided by the statutes of Arkansas, that a married woman may relinquish her dower in any real estate of her husband by joining with him in a deed of conveyance thereof. Mansf. Dig., sec. 649.
Under this statute it has been ruled that a married woman could relinquish dower only by joining her husband in a conveyance to a third person; and that an instrument executed by her alone, whereby she undertook to relinquish dower to a third person or to her husband, would be inoperative. Witter v. Bisco, 13 Ark., 423; Pillow v. Wade, 31 Ark., 678.
This court has never considered the effect of a wife’s statutory relinquishment where the grant of the husband had been defeated; but where the widow before assignment had attempted to transfer her right of'dower, it has held that, while she might relinquish it to the heirs at law or to one holding the legal title under the husband, and thus bar her right to recover dower, yet she could not transfer her claim of dower,, so as to vest in any other person the right of action therefor. Carnall v. Wilson, 21 Ark., 62. In the subsequent case of Jacoway v. McGarrah, 21 Ark., 347, the rule was approved, and it was further held that the transfer of the widow’s claim would not be good even in equity, for the reason she had no transferable interest.. If the doctrine of that case be correct, about which we are not now called to inquire, it leads to an approval of the doctrine held by the cases cited from New York, as to the effect of the married woman’s statutory relinquishment. We think the court of appeals correctly interprets the purpose of that statute, and the judgment of the circuit court was therefore correct.
Affirmed.