Grider v. Grider

I disagree with the refusal to follow our long line of cases holding that a chancellor lacks the power to divide marital property absent a divorce decree. In Mooney v. Mooney, 265 Ark. 253, 578 S.W.2d 195 (1979), our supreme court affirmed a chancellor’s refusal to divide marital property where the appellant’s counterclaim for divorce was dismissed for failure to prove grounds, and stated:

The appellant asked the trial court to grant him a divorce and divide the property according to law. On appeal, the appellant asks us to do the same. The property, of course, cannot be divided unless a…