Huffman v. Fisher

The significance of this case is that the majority opinion changes the standard of review in equity cases where parents seek to have their surnames assigned to their child. In Clinton v. Morrow, 220 Ark. 377, 247 S.W.2d 1015 (1952), the court held chancellors have broad discretion when assigning surnames, and the court has adhered to that standard as recently as 1992. See Reaves v. Herman, 309 Ark. 370, 830 S.W.2d 860 (1992); see also McCullough v. Henderson, 304 Ark. 689, 804 S.W.2d 368 (1991).1 In today’s surname decision, without mentioning overruling the court’s earlier cases on this…