THE NEW LAW ON MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY. (Times, August 10.)

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 394, 21 November 1874, Page 2

THE NEW LAW ON MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY. (Times, August 10.)

Some important alterations are made in the Act, which received tht- Royal assent on Thursday last, and has just bpen issued, to amend the lavr with respect to the property of matried women. It recites that "it is no* just that the property which a woman has at the time of her marriage should pass to her husband, and that he should not t-e liable for her debts contracted before marriage, and the law as to the recovery of such debts requires amendment." The statute, which does not extend to Scotland, has immediate operation. It repeals so much of the Married Women's Property Act, 1870, as enacts that a husband shall not be liable for the debts of his wife contracted before marriage as to marriages which shall take place after the passing of this Art (July 30), and a husband and wife married after the Act may be jointly sued for any sucli debt. As to the liability of a husband it is declared that in such action and in any action brought for damages by reason of any tort tornmitted by the wife before marriage or by reason of any breach of any contract made by the wife before marriage, he is to be liable to the extent only of the assets specified in the Act, and may plead that he is not liable to pay the debt or damage in respect of such assets, or, confessing his liability to some amount, that he is not liable beyond what he confesses, and if no suoh plea is pleaded, the husband is to bo deemed to huve confessed his liability so far as assets are concerned. If it is not found in such action hat the husband i» liable in respect of assets, he is to hate judgment for his costs of defence, whatever the result of the action may bo against the wife. When a husband and wife aie sued jointlj, if by confession or otherwise it appears that the husband is liable for the debt or damages recovered, or any part thereof, the judgment to the extent of the amount for whioh the husband is liable is to be a joint judgment against the husband and wife, and as to the residue, if any, of such debt or damages, the judgment to be a sepaiate one against the wife. The assets in resi ect of winch and the extent 10 which the husband is liable are specified u«der six heads :—l,: — 1, The value of tbe personal estate in possession of the wife which shall have vested in the husband ; 2, the value of the choses in action of the wile which the husband shall have reduced into possession, or which, with icasonable diligence, he might have reduced into possession j 3, the value of the chattels real of the wife which shall have vested in the husband and wife ; 4, th^ value of the rents and profits of the real estate of the wife which the husband shall have received or, with reasonable diligence, might have received ; 5, the value of the husband's estate or interest in any property, real or personal, which the wife in contemplation of her marriage with him shall have transferred to him or to any other person ; and, 6, the \aluo of any property, real or personal, which the wife in contemplation of her marriage with the husband shall with his consent have transfened to any person, with the view of defeating or delaying her existing creditors. When the husband after marriage pays any debt of his wife, or has a judgment bond fide recovered against him in any such action as mentioned in this Act, then to the extent of such payment or judgment the husband is not in any subsequent action to be liable The statute, which extends to England end Ireland, may be cited as the " Married Women's Property Act Amendment Act, 1874."