Gardner v. Bullard

Summary

The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed a chancery court decree approving a drainage district's proposed contract and improvements. The court held that spouses who owned land as tenants by the entirety were separate holders of title for purposes of determining whether a majority of landowners opposed the proposal, and that a husband's signature and testimony could not establish his wife's opposition when she had not signed or been identified in the petition. The court also upheld the exclusion of additional petitions filed after the court-authorized filing date.

Holdings

1. A spouse who owns an interest in an estate by the entirety is a holder of part of the title, and the other spouse's signature is essential to make that spouse a valid objector unless the signing spouse's authority to sign for the other is shown on the petition.
2. Oral testimony cannot establish ratification or joinder when the petition contains no signature, name, or other indication that the wife was an owner or joined in the opposition.
3. The master and chancery court properly refused to consider additional opposition petitions filed after March 20, 1962, because the master's authority was limited to the petitions filed by that date.

Questions Presented

1. Whether owners of land held by the entirety could be counted as valid objectors when only the husband signed the opposition petition.
2. Whether a husband could use oral testimony to establish that his wife agreed with his opposition when the wife's name was not signed or otherwise shown on the petition.
3. Whether additional opposition petitions filed after the date authorized by the chancery court could be considered.

Disposition

affirmed