Davol v. Howland
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
In this action, the said Alice, styling herself late the wife of Pardon Davol, demands her dower in a certain parcel of land; and alleges that the said Pardon, formerly her husband, was seised in his demesne as of fee of the premises during the coverture of the said Pardon with the demandant; that she has been divorced from the bonds of matrimony, for the cause of adultery committed by him: and that, since the said divorce was had, and a month before the purchase of her writ…
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In this action, the said Alice, styling herself late the wife of Pardon Davol, demands her dower in a certain parcel of land; and alleges that the said Pardon, formerly her husband, was seised in his demesne as of fee of the premises during the coverture of the said Pardon with the demandant; that she has been divorced from the bonds of matrimony, for the cause of adultery committed by him: and that, since the said divorce was had, and a month before the purchase of her writ in this case, viz., on, &c., at, &c., she demanded of the said Humphrey, tenant in possession, and having the next…
1Opinion of the CourtParker, C. J.
The point presented by the pleadings is, that the husband of the demandant, although seised of the land in which dower is claimed during the coverture, had alienated it before the decree of divorce took place; and the legal inference attempted to be drawn is, that the wife is *192not dowable, but of lands of which the husband continues seised until the dissolution of the- marriage.
The counsel for the tenant have argued that the legislature intended, by the language of the provision in question, to limit the right of the wife to the lands which remained the husband’s at the time of the divorce.
But…
2Cited by6 opinions
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- Lewis v. MeserveSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1873
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