Giles v. Giles
Supreme Court of Minnesota
This is an action under Laws 1874, ch. 66, § 1, (approved March 5, 1874,) which provides that “ whenever a married man shall be deserted by his wife, or a married woman shall be deserted by her husband, for the space of one year, * * * he or she may bring an action in the district court of the proper county, asking for a decree which shall debar him or her so deserting * * * from any right or estate, by the curtesy or in dower, * * * in or to his or her lands, and which will…
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This is an action under Laws 1874, ch. 66, § 1, (approved March 5, 1874,) which provides that “ whenever a married man shall be deserted by his wife, or a married woman shall be deserted by her husband, for the space of one year, * * * he or she may bring an action in the district court of the proper county, asking for a decree which shall debar him or her so deserting * * * from any right or estate, by the curtesy or in dower, * * * in or to his or her lands, and which will give such wife or husband full authority to aliene, sell and convey and dispose of his oilier lands, without the…
1Opinion of the CourtBerry, J.
Unless the contrary clearly appears to have been intended by the legislature, statutes should be construed to be prospective in their scope and operation, and not retrospective. This is a familiar canon of construction. Burwell v. Tullis, 12 Minn. 572; Davidson v. Gaston, 16 Minn. 230 ; Sedgwick on Stat. & Const. Law, 2d ed., 160-173. In accordance with this rule we are of opinion that the clause, (found in Laws 1874, ch. 66, § 1,) “ whenever a married man shall be deserted by his wife,” refers to a future desertion — that is to say, to a desertion beginning after the chapter cited goes into…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Burwell v. TullisSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1867
- Davidson v. GastonSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1871
3Cited by14 opinions
- Barrington v. BarringtonSupreme Court of Alabama · 1917
- Gaston v. MerriamSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1885
- Chenoweth v. ChambersCalifornia Court of Appeal · 1917
- Burt v. BurtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1897
- Rom v. CalhounSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1948
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