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124 Wis. 82

Hunt v. McDonald

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Decided January 31, 1905

Wisconsin Supreme Court · decided 1905-01-31

E. Duwwiddie, Circuit Judge. This is an action to foreclose a mechanic’s lien for drilling a well. Tbe premises sought to be charged constituted tbe homestead of one James McDonald, and tbe appellant, Came M. McDonald, is bis wife.

Relies on Godfrey v. Thornton · Town v. Gensch · Weston v. Weston

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Affirmed · Decided 1905-01-31

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently April 1970

4 state decisions

1019051910192019301940195019601970decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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WiNsnow, J.

¶1This was an action brought to foreclose a mechanic’s lien upon a homestead for drilling and piping a well thereon under a contract with tbe husband alone. Tbe title of tbe homestead rested in tbe husband, and be was made the sole party defendant, and defended tbe action on tbe ground of failure to complete an entire contract, but was defeated after trial upon tbe merits. Tbe wife, who is tbe petitioner here, bad full opportunity to make application to be made a party before tbe trial of tbe action, but allowed tbe *84same to be tried and go to judgment, and is now endeavoring to vacate the judgment and retry the action on the same lines of defense made by the husband. She had an inchoate right of dower in the land, and also a homestead right, which latter right was not an estate, but simply a disability of the husband. Godfrey v. Thornton, 46 Wis. 677, 1 N. W. 362; Town v. Gensch, 101 Wis. 445, 76 N. W. 1096, 77 N. W. 893. On account of these interests in the subject matter, she would have been, doubtless, a proper party to the action. Hausmann Bros. Mfg. Co. v. Kempfert, 93 Wis. 587, 67 N. W. 1136; Weston v. Weston, 46 Wis. 130, 49 N. W. 834. But as the contract to construct the well was made with her husband alone, she cannot be said to be a necessary party to an action to foreclose the lien. Foster v. Hichox, 38 Wis. 408. It was therefore a question of discretion whether she would be allowed to come in and defend, and we think the circumstances appearing on the application were entirely sufficient to justify the court in refusing to grant the application.

¶2By the Gourt. — Order affirmed.

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