Ala. Code § 6-7-1: Prosecution or Defense of Actions in Name of Husband or Father.

When a husband or father has deserted his family, is confined in a hospital operated by the Alabama Mental Health Department, not having been declared of unsound mind, or is imprisoned for a term of two years or more under a conviction for crime, the wife or mother may prosecute and defend in his name any action which he might have prosecuted or defended, and has the same powers and rights in reference to such action which he might have had.