Ward v. Pipkin

• Citation: 22 S.W.2d 1011,180 Ark. 855
• Decision Date: 13 January 1930
• Docket Number: 87
• Parties: WARD v. PIPKIN
• Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas

22 S.W.2d 1011

180 Ark. 855

WARD v. PIPKIN

No. 87

Supreme Court of Arkansas

January 13, 1930

Appeal from St. Francis Circuit Court; W. D. Davenport, Judge reversed.

Judgment reversed and cause remanded.

S S. Hargraves, for appellant.

Otto B. Rollwage, R. J. Williams and Mann & Harrelson, for appellee.

OPINION

BUTLER, J.

On the 21st day of February, 1921, Fannie Haskins Pipkin, an unmarried woman, made and executed her last will and testament, devising her property to the appellees in this case. After the execution of the will, she was married to the appellant, H. W. Ward, with whom she lived until the 21st day of January, 1928, when she died, leaving no children. The will was filed for probate, and, from the order admitting it to probate, the appellant, as surviving husband of Fannie Haskins Pipkin, filed his affidavit and appeal, and from an adverse decision in the circuit court he has appealed to this court.

The appellant bases his right of action on act No. 149 of the Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas of 1925. Section 1 of that act reads as follows: "That, upon the death of a married woman intestate, her husband shall be entitled to one-third of her real property for life, and one-third of her personal property in fee, where she leaves descendants; and to one-half of the real property for life, and to one-half of the personal property in fee, in case she leaves no descendants; but the rights of the husband shall be limited to such proportionate share of the estate, after the payment of her debts."

The only question presented for our determination is whether a will executed by an unmarried woman is revoked by her subsequent marriage. By § 8 of c. 157 of the Revised Statutes of Arkansas, now § 10503 of Crawford & Moses' Digest, it is provided: "A will executed by an unmarried woman shall be deemed revoked by her subsequent marriage." It was, and is, a contention of the appellees that this section was impliedly repealed by § 7, article 9, of the Constitution of 1874, which section reads as follows: "The real and personal property of any femme covert in this State, acquired either before or after marriage, whether by gift, grant, inheritance, devise, or otherwise, shall, so long as she may choose, be and remain her separate estate and property, and may be devised, bequeathed, or conveyed by her the same as if she were femme sole, and the same shall not be subject to the debts of her husband."

We cannot agree with ...