LEGAL INQUIRY COLUMN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 169, 17 July 1907, Page 8

LEGAL INQUIRY COLUMN.

CONDUCTED BY. A BAEEISTKfi-AT-LAW. Letters of inquiry will be answerea every Wednesday In this column. As far as poafn i^v" 11 be dealt w "a in the order in which they are received, and replies will t»e inserted with the least possible delay. fmm °^ er t0 deriTe tile greatest advantage tiS™ Pf co 'umn, correspondents should whLi ", Particulars of the facte upon d£,-V ej deslve advice. Whatever the rln i su PP' ied . however, no respoEslbility d<. sccepted lor errorSj in whatever way arising, though every effort will be made to insure accuracy. Answers are based absolutely on the information given, and, therefore, in all instances, can oalj be applied to the specific case dealt with.

Every correspondent must enclose IU3 of her real name and address, though net. of course, for publication.

ANXIOUS writes: "Say a Mr. Brown and a Mr. Jones agree to put up a dividing fence, each agreeing to pay hall the expense, Mr. Jones agreeing to take the responsibility of putting the fence in its proper place in Mr. Brown's absence. Mr. Jones puts the fence on Mr. Brown's ground from end to end, aud sent the bill in for haJf the expense. Mr. Brown refused to pay until Mr. Joaoa put the fence in its proper place. This Mr. Jones refused to do, even though he knew it was wrong. If Mr. Brown gets the ground re-sur-veyed, could he then shift fence to its proper place > Could Mr. Jones then make him pay half expense of fence? Mr. Brown has beeu told if you leave a fence for a number of years without shifting it you cannot do so. How lonecan you leave it without shifting if"

[If Jones has wilfully put the fence in the wrong place, he will be responsible lor the cost his action gives rise to. If Brown's land is under the Land Transfer Act he may move the fence at any tune. If not, he must do so within 20 years ]

H.G.F. writes: "Will you kindly answer the following: A is renting a farm, with purchasing clause, off B. B has an. island. A's wife is ill; doctor recommends a change. B persuades A to give up the farm, makes lots of promisee to A if he will come and live on the island. B draws out an agreement with a shilling stamp on, which he says is quite sufficient, and has it signed and witnessed. The agreement describes the farm as 'that piece and parcel of land, called XXX, containing about 00 acres of land.' On A's arrival on the island, the so-called farm consists of a house in a very dilapidated condition, and about 20 acres of land, in a narrow valley, enclosed, and fenced. There are hundreds of acres of wild land outsme the fence, but covered with ti-tree, and not worth one halfpenny per hundred acres, for farming purposes. Has A any chance of success if he brines an action at law against B for breach of contract and fraudulent -misrepresentations?"

LAII will depend on the nature of the promised representations made by B, and the contents of the agreement. H.G.F. win need to send details of th,e former and. a copy of the latter. 1

WILLING asks: "Can a man have his illegitimate child registered in his name providing the mother of child agrees to same, and, if so, what way will he go about It?"

[Both parents must attend before the Registrar and apply, and both will need to sign the register, ls Willing aware that he can legitimise his child by marryinz its mother, if he ls a single man?j

PURIRI writes: "A buys a piece of land about 35 years ago. which joins B. At some time previous to this a large puriri had evidently grown on A's Blue of the boundary lino, but had been uprooted, and tell over on to B"s eido. and grew there, the whole tree, roots ■■-nd all, being on B's land, the boundary line passing close by the wall of roots. This Hue was fenced 32 or 33 years ago, the fence just touching tn/>" wan or roots. No question of ownership of the said tree was raised. A short time ago A put up a new fence on this part of the boundary line. B has cut ti-tree and light bush on his side, -where this puriri ls still growing. A asked B to remove this tree, as it ie almost sure to burn his new fence when the felled bush is fired Dext season. B replied that the tree belongs to A, and that A will be responsible for any damage caused by the said tree."

[This is a mere quibble on B's part. He would find it very difficult to establish hta positiou. If A wishes to restrain B he will need to proceed by Injunction, for which purpose he will have to consult a solicitor. His simpler coarse would be to notify B of the danger and his objections, and theo. if B persists and causes any damage to sue him for the damage he has suffered.]

KENT writes: "Uutil recently I occupied a house in the suburbs. On entering as tenant I had a verbal agreement with the owner to pay the rent quarterly. I paid up fully for the last quarter, and after three weeks I left the house and offered the owner three weeks' rent, which was met with a refusal and a demand for the three months' rent. Now. what I should lite to know, is this: Am I in auv way liable for the balance of the three months' rent?" [Rent must pay his landlord one month's rent in lieu of notice.]

B. writes:—"My average earnings per week are from £2 2/ to £2 5/ for this last year. There are five of us In family to beep. lam depending entirely on my earnings. A firm I owe money to havp been to mc to see if I could reduce the account " I offered them 7/6 per fortnight and they refused: they warn 10/ per fortnight, or proceedings will be' taken. «o u id you kindly let mc know wbat the law can demand from mc per week. lam paying rent, and possess no property excepting a cow and horse which are in the wife's narn° Is it possible for these to be claimed for debt?"

[If the cow and horse are the wife"s own property, they cannot be taken for debt. If not. thp;.- can. 7/6 a fortnight is probably all the Court woulr] order F.B. to pay on a judgment summons.]

EPIC asks:."(l) A borrows £500 for three years at 5 per cent. At the end of three years he pays off £ion. but does not do so for about six weeks after it fell due. - when he paid interest and insurance at the same time. When the next quarter's interest is due he hands the money over, and the agent keeps 15/ extra, and says it is for the time A had the use of the money, although he did not make any claim before on behalf of his client. Is he. justified in doing so? (2) The agent also claimed £1 11/ for drawing out a fresh agreement, as he called it, when A paid off the £100." [Epic has been gather negligent, I am afraid. He should not have paid off £100 without a proper aekcowledgmen prepared by his own solicitor. He would be liable for interest least. I do not understand the "agreement." Epic should get a copy and forward it to me.]

A.V.H. writes: "Are settlers living in the country where there are no roads but cattle tracks bound to send their young children to a school some two and ahalf miles away, the tract through scrub, over hills, and across creeks? The children were being taught at home." [The school age is from 7 to 14, but in cases 6uch as that mentioned parents can get exemption certificates on the ground that the road is not sufficiently passable. Snch certificates are obtainable from the teacher or the committee.]

ITEEESTED -writes: "If the mother and father both die without a \riU 1 who inherits their property and money? The father has no relatives living except a younger sister, and the mother an elder brother. The property, consistJng of a farm and a house, are in the mother's name, also a snm of money, the rest of the money being in the father's name. There are two sons and two daughters, the daughters ..being the elder. Are those printed forms of w.ttls you can bny legal, il you hare . two. .witnesses?' "

[The property will all be divided between the sous and daughters in equal shares. The forms referred to are generally correct in the wording, but there is plenty of room for error in the execution. It Is much safer to have wills made by professional men. Such a will as the forms wonld do, for a reliable solicitor would draw and see it properly executed for a guinea.]