Carla Muruaga-Atkins; Carol Ann Martin; Laura Martin, Individually; Laura Martin, as Mother and Next Friend of Two Unemancipated Minor Children; Caitlyn Peterson, Individually; Caitlyn Peterson, as Mother and Next Friend of Three Unemancipated Minor Children; And Kathryn Ahlefeld v. Melanie Foster; Forest Roberts; Kathryn Clark; Christie Waggoner; Lillian Van Houten; Sawney Huckabay; And Allen Family Farm, Inc., an Arkansas Non-Profit Corporation

── Carla Muruaga-Atkins; Carol Ann Martin; Laura Martin, Individually; Laura Martin, as Mother and Next Friend of Two Unemancipated Minor Children; Caitlyn Peterson, Individually; Caitlyn Peterson, as Mother and Next Friend of Three Unemancipated Minor Children; And Kathryn Ahlefeld v. Melanie Foster; Forest Roberts; Kathryn Clark; Christie Waggoner; Lillian Van Houten; Sawney Huckabay; And Allen Family Farm, Inc., an Arkansas Non-Profit Corporation ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arkansas Date: May 20, 2026 Category: General Cite as 2026 Ark. App. 336 ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION IV No. CV-25-386 CARLA MURUAGA-ATKINS; CAROL Opinion Delivered May 20, 2026 ANN MARTIN; LAURA MARTIN, APPEAL FROM THE BENTON INDIVIDUALLY; LAURA MARTIN, AS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT MOTHER AND NEXT FRIEND OF [NO. 04CV-21-2909] TWO UNEMANCIPATED MINOR CHILDREN; CAITLYN PETERSON, INDIVIDUALLY; CAITLYN PETERSON, HONORABLE JOHN R. SCOTT, AS MOTHER AND NEXT FRIEND OF JUDGE THREE UNEMANCIPATED MINOR CHILDREN; AND KATHRYN AHLEFELD APPELLANTS V. MELANIE FOSTER; FOREST ROBERTS; KATHRYN CLARK; CHRISTIE WAGGONER; LILLIAN VAN HOUTEN; SAWNEY HUCKABAY; AND ALLEN FAMILY FARM, INC., AN ARKANSAS NON-PROFIT CORPORATION APPELLEES AFFIRMED CINDY GRACE THYER, Judge This case involves an action to prevent certain real property owned by Allen Family Farm, Inc. (AFF), from being listed for sale and to resolve the issue of membership in that organization. Appellants here, plaintiffs below, are Carla Muruaga-Atkins; Carol Ann Martin; Laura Martin, individually and as next friend of her two minor children; Caitlyn Peterson, individually and as next friend of her three minor children; and Kathryn Ahlefeld. Appellees here, defendants below, are Melanie Foster, Forest Roberts, Kathryn Clark, Christie Waggoner, Lillian Van Houten, Sawney Huckabay, and AFF. Appellants raise four points on appeal: (1) the circuit court applied the wrong legal standard when it determined that they were required to demonstrate they had been defrauded in order to prevail; (2) the circuit court incorrectly found that the membership restrictions implemented in the bylaws were not in conflict with the articles of incorporation and were valid; (3) the circuit court erroneously held that AFF could sell all its land and abandon its corporate purpose in contravention of our supreme court’s opinion in Giss v. Apple, 239 Ark. 1124, 396 S.W.2d 813 (1965); and (4) the circuit court further erred in its determination that the election was valid and not void despite allegedly “inaccurate” information being conveyed. I. Factual and Procedural History James R. Allen was the original owner of the property subject to this lawsuit. Allen was widowed in 1936 and lived until 1944, never remarrying. He and his late wife had ten children: Allie Belle, Neva, Daniel (Dan), James, Monell, Minnie Lou, Sam, Gilbert, Tom, and Lois. All ten have passed away. In 1940, Allen deeded 372.95 acres of his farm to his eldest child, Allie Belle Root, reserving to himself ten acres around the house, barn, and associated structures. When he 2 died in 1944, each of the ten children received an equal undivided one-tenth interest in the ten acres around the house. In 1967, Allie Belle deeded the 372.95 acres to her siblings Sam, Tom, Gilbert, and Monell. Monell passed away in 1983, leaving appellee Melanie Foster, formerly Melanie Sawka, as her heir. Those four grantees each then owned by deed an undivided one-fourth interest in 372.95 acres, along with their inherited undivided one-tenth interests in the ten acres that James R. Allen had held solely in his name when he died in 1944. In 1984, forty years after James R. Allen died, two of his children—Sam (father of appellee Christie Waggoner) and Gilbert (father of appellee Lillian Van Houten)—along with his grandchild, Melanie Foster, formed AFF as an Arkansas nonprofit corporation pursuant to the 1963 Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act, c