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Boyett v. Boyett
Citations: 269 Ark. 36; 598 S.W.2d 86; 1980 Ark. LEXIS 1479Docket: 79-329
Court: Supreme Court of Arkansas; May 12, 1980; Arkansas; State Supreme Court
Charles Comer Boyett, Jr. filed for divorce on June 6, 1979, with Harriett Hoffman Boyett responding on June 22, 1979. Boyett later sought a declaratory judgment on October 2, 1979, requesting that the court apply Ark. Stat. Ann. 34-1214 (Repl. 1962) for property division instead of Act 705 of 1979. After a hearing on November 8, 1979, the chancellor ruled that Act 705 of 1979 was applicable and stated that the judgment was final and appealable. However, the court found that the judgment did not meet the criteria for finality and dismissed the appeal. Citing Johnson v. Johnson, the court reiterated that for a judgment to be final, it must conclusively resolve the action or rights of the parties, which this declaratory judgment did not accomplish. The court emphasized that the request for a declaratory judgment was merely a preliminary legal declaration within the ongoing divorce proceedings and thus constituted an interlocutory order, not subject to appeal. The court also noted that declaratory relief is inappropriate when the issues are already part of a pending case. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, with the court raising the question of appealability on its own motion.