LEGAL INQUIRY COLUMN.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 159, 5 July 1916, Page 7

LEGAL INQUIRY COLUMN.

(BY A BARRISTEIi-AT-LAW„ ; Letters nl' inquiry will be answered every Wednesday in this column. As far as possible they will be dealt with iv the order iv which they are received, aud replies will he inserted with the least ticssihle delay. IGUANE.-Xo. DOLLY GREY.-You should read through your policy carefully, back and front and see if anything is contained in 1c to uflect your enlistment. If tbe policy i» silent in the matter, you are most probably free to join the Forces without further premium, but it would be "•ise to write to the insurance company for a definite statement in case there is something in your proposal form embodied in the policy and not set out iv the policy. AN INQUIRER. — Tbe fact that you are working does not actually debar you from obtaining maintenance from your husband, but it will make it more cifflcult to get maintenance.

WIFE.—a wife may or may not get the whole of the estate of her husband if he died without a will. It depends upon the circumstances. To enable mc to answer your questions. I shall need to know whether the husband left any children, and. if not, what other relatives be left, and whether his estate is over of under £500.

ORTGAGK. — You may go ou with the weekly payments as long as the Mortgages Extension Act is in operation, which will be to the end of the current year, unless It is renewed this session. You will be obliged to pay the full 12/0 per week, and if the first mortgage is renewed through any steps taken by you, you will most likely have to pay the difference, but I cannot say with any certainty. The document is not drawn by a solicitor, and who is to be liable when the first mortgage becomes due is not made very clear in it.

WIRE FENCE.—You will have to pay half the cost of the fence, and not the vendor. You will have to give your neighbour notice either to repair or erecr a new fence, whichever yon require. You should buy a copy ot the Fencing Act. which you may get for nd. and use the form of notice set out in rhe Act. You will uotice that .1?. you.want a new .fence, your, neighbour must object within 21 days after service of the notice on him, otherwise you may go on with the work and charge him up with his naif share.

WAITING.—(I) It is for the vendor to get his tenant out of the property, ami not for the purchaser to do so. If you want pos-sesslou, do not complete the purchase until the tenant has left. (2) The neighbouring owner cannot make you put back your washhouse unless you have some local by-law which has been infringed by the erection of the washhouse in its present I position.

C.B.—lt does not follow that your property will absolutely debar you from getting the old age pension. There may lie a mortgage on it reducing your interest in it, and you may be living in it. In any ease, I think it would be worth your while to make formal application for both yourself and your wife. If your sons at the front are unmarried, you should be receiving some assistance from them, notwithstanding their absence, and this may interfere with any grant you might otherwise get from the Patriotic Fund. Of course, if your sons have other dependents, an allowance might lie made to you. I cannot say that you would be successful In either quarter, but you could do no harm by trying.

ANXIOUS.—(I) The money must be accounted' for on demand. (2) It must be paid into a trust account, and the trust account must be audited. (8) The mortgage cannot have been paid off unless your father has signed a release. (4) The best course I can suggest to yon is to write and ask that the deeds of the mortgage security should be posted under registered post to your father, the mortgagee, who Is entitled to bold them.

PINI7S.—You cannot compel your neighbour to remove the trees, but you may sue him for any damages you may suiter from the pine needles dropping on yonr roof, etc.

INQUIRER.—On no account should you attempt to deal with the title yourself without legal assistance.

ANXIOUS (2). —If the furniture is yours, it oanuot be seized for your husband's debt iv his absence ou active service.

J. and V.— l think you might be entitled to a divorce, but you do not say when the final separation between you and your husband took place, nor what were the circumstances immediately leading to that separation. If you will let mc have this Information, I shall be able to speak move definitely.