LEGAL INQUIRY COLUMN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 173, 23 July 1936, Page 18

LEGAL INQUIRY COLUMN.

(By BARRISTBR-AT-LAW.)

[Letters of inquiry 'will be ansrwered 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 bd inserted with the least possible delay.]

ANXlOUS.—Although the point is not free from doubt I have come to the conclusion that the extra rate can be validly levied. The arrangement for payment of rent to the board was made between you and your tenant, and you cannot seek by that arrangement to 'make the clerk your agent. As he was not your agent, he owed you no duty and you cannot complain if he has received more than you intended. I have no doubt that you will be able to adjust the matter when the current year's rate is payable. INTERESTED. —You mention only the Income of the various members of the family and not their total possessions. You do not mention whether the married sisters have any income or assets. Assuming that none of the married sisters has any income or assets and that the brothers have no assets apart from their homes, the only one who has the means to contribute is No. 4. Numbers 3 and 5 might be ordered to contribute perhaps 2/6 a week, but No. 4 could pay 10/ per week.

ASSIGNMENT.—The deed of assignment almost certainly provides that you can no longer sue for your debt, as you have chosen to obtain payment in the manner provided by the assignment. INTERESTED.—Your friend's pension will be less than the full pension, probably about £37 per year. The husband will get a similar pension. In both cases I am assuming that the husband's earnings do not amount to more than about £00 per year.

A.B. —You may apply to the Court for an attachment order. It is in the discretion of the Court to refuse. JIM X.—(ll You have the risht to oppose the bankrupt's applieation for discharge when it is heard at the Supreme Court. (2) If you communicate your information as to assets to the Official Assignee he may make inquiries and may support you in opposing the discharge. J.F.—The assumption is that the written agreement contains the whole arrangement between you and your landlord, and as a matter of law your letter discloses nothing which would entitle you to give evidence of a promise of an extension. Your remedy is to exercise the option to buy. You cannot remove trees permanently planted out, but plants in nursery rows intended for sale in the ordinary course "of business may be removed. A.S.—-You are not entitled to sue for divorce until you have been living apart from your husband for three years. RANFURLY.—Your neighbour will be solely responsible for nil damage to your land aud fence resulting from the alteration of the level of the ground. DISGUSTED. —You could sue for restitution of conjugal rights, and if your husband did not comply with the order you could at once sue for divorce. It would be nine months before you got your decree absolute. Otherwise, if you do not want your husband back, and merely want a divorce, you must wait until you have been deserted for three years before suing for divorce. ANXIOUS (Te Kawa). —The boy's parents are not liable. ANXIOUS (Ellerslie). —Your landlord must apply to the Court to have the fair rent fixed before he can increase it. The rent after the Improvements are completed will probably be fixed at about 22/. ACCIDENT. —It is unwise to sue until you are certain that all the damage has become apparent. In the meantime your solicitor will write holding the driver liable for such damage as may be found to result. ARREARS.—You are entitled to the subsidy for the past two rating years. G.G. —The levy is payable by all persons ordinarily resident in New Zealand, and it is a question of fact whether you abandoned your intention to reside in New Zealand or went away for a holiday and still considered New Zealand your ordinary place of residence.