LEGAL INQUIRY COLUMN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 139, 14 June 1934, Page 23

LEGAL INQUIRY COLUMN.

(By BARBISTER-AT-LAW.)

[Letters of inquiry will be answered every week in this column. As far as possible they will be dealt with in the order in which they are received, and replies will be inserted with the least possible delay.]

MORTGAGE.—There Is nothing for you to sign. To put your title in order the mortgagee should sign a special form of release, which should then be stamped and registered. You must pay the mortgagee's solicitor's costs of preparing and getting the release executed. The cost will be between £2 6/6 and ±'5 according to circumstances. N.L.M.— (1) It is impossible to advise whether the agreement is binding merely from a few extracts. So far as the extracts go there i 9 nothing to indicate that the agreement Is not valid. Presumably the buyer was buying what "A" had to sell. The agreement docs not suggest that "A" had a clear title. The agreement may not be enforceable by reason of the lapse of time, even if otherwise good. (2) The fact that the agreement was not prepared by a solicitor, nor stamped nor registered, will not of necessity affect its validity.

CX.—You may confidently apply for the pension. Your wife's modest savings will make little difference to the amouut you should receive. NIKAU.—I do not think the letter is so obviously libellous. To obtain damages publication of the libel must be proved and your letter suggests that the libellous communication was addressed to the party libelled. If so, where is the publication to a third party? HOT TAX.—The Statute of Limitations probably does not apply. It certainly does not apply in New Zealand to such a claim. BOND. —I presume that the whole agreement was made conditional upon the aproval of the Department. If so, you may recover j - our money as a debt. You cannot obtain priority in the event of liquidation. Shareholders whose shares are not fully paid can be compelled by the liquidator to pay up their shares in full in order to provide funds for the payment of the company's debts. Your best plan is to sue for the money if you cannot get it otherwise. WORKER.— (1) The date in question is April 1, 1032. (2) Your wife's property is free from interference by your, creditors. (3) The value of the properties will have a bearing on your wife's right to a pension. ROA. —Tho allowance made you is not fixed by law. but is in tho discretion of the Unemployment Board. I cannot therefore answer your question. I am informed that in most cases some reduction is made unless the circumstances of the family make it too harsh to do 80.

S.E.L. —The agreement, and in particular the correspondence at the time tbe the second lot of P.X.'s -were signed, may help to elucidate the position. If, however, as your letter suggests, the first P.N.'s were pnid in full, you would then have completed your payments under the hire purchase agreement.. The subsequent account would in that event be unsecured and default in payment would not entitle the creditor to seize your car. He would have to sue first. Before you act on this assumption you should make sure that the hire purchase agreement contains no provision covering the first two items in the second account, especially if they were incurred prior to the first account being liquidated in full. If these are covered by the agreement the remedies given your creditor by the agreement may still be employed if you default. CASUAL.—The union Ts not at the moment able to be of much assistance to its members, but times may change. There is always an advantage in having a strong union when the award expires. Those members who are in arrear can be compelled to pay their arrears. Until they have ceased to be members they are liable for dues. KBLIEF WORKER.—The position is far from being clear in New Zealand. If the English law applies you should pay nothing. Under the most liberal interpretation of the position under New Zealand law the amount you have paid is sufficient. You should not pay more, and if more Is demanded write to the Auckland District Ijaw Society with the-full facts.

BLIGHTY. —Only women are exempted from taxation on the first £20 or income under the "Unemployment Act. INQUIRER (Dargaville). — Perusing the policy won't help you. You are entitled to compensation if the accident arose out of and in the course of employment. You do not make it clear whether the accident happened on the employer's premises or not. If it happened off the premises and after your duties were completed you are not entitled to compensation. If it happened on the premises It is probable that compensation is payable. You should make a formal claim end consult your solicitor.