Nathan Clifford, Bank of America v. Banks — Opinion of the Court
“ Marriage, by the rules of the common law, gave the husband a freehold tenure in the estates of inheritance in land of the wife, and the right to the rents and profits during their joint lives. During coverture the husband must sue in his own name for any injury to the profits of the land, but for an injury to the inheritance it was required that the wife must join in the action. ”
Nathan Clifford, Bank of America v. Banks — Opinion of the Court
“ Supplies for the comfort, convenience, and maintenance of the family and the education of her children must be contracted for by the wife, and, if not purchased directly by her but by the husband, they imposed no liability on her separate property, unless the husband had her consent to act. Unlike that, the rule is that supplies for her plantation, or for the repairs or improvement of her separate estate, or for work, labor, and services in cultivating the same, the contracts may be made by husband and wife, or either of them. ”
Nathan Clifford, Bank of America v. Banks — Opinion of the Court
“ Husband and wife during coverture were regarded as one person at common law in most respects, from which it followed as a general rule that the wife could neither sue nor be sued without joining her husband. ”
