LEGAL INQUIRY COLUMN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 157, 4 July 1940, Page 20

LEGAL INQUIRY COLUMN.

(By BARRISTER AT LAW.)

[Letters of inquiry will toe , 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.]

CROSSING.—The landlord Iβ not obliged to effect any improvements to the property. You are deemed to huve rented it as It stood at the time the tenancy commenced, unless there Iβ some agreement to th« contrary. You cannot, therefore, compel the landlord to pay for the crossing or refuse to pay the full rent. CONFUSED. —Your husband's primary liability will be to his wife and to his daughter. Your claim ie that of an ordinary creditor, and if ae a result of th« war his ability to meet your claim Iβ affected adversely you may not be given leave to enforce payment of the full amount due to you. If your late husband's financial position permits payment in full of the maintenance due to you there is no reason why payment could not be enforced. SATISFACTION.—After three years' desertion you will be entitled to petition for a divorce. If you obtain a divorce you will no longer be a statutory widow and will lose your widow's pension. ANXIOUS NURSIE.—It is improbable that your landlord can take effective steps to cause you to leave the house before the other house will be ready for your occupation. If the Fair Rents Act applies to your house you cannot be compelled to move except on an order of'the Court, and tha Court will make - an order only if sufficient grounds huve i . been shown. In general it is necessary for the landlord to prove that suitable alternative accommodation will be available for you at the time that you are ordered to give up possession. You will be liable for rent until you actually give up possession. TREES.—You have no remedy, but you may cut back the branches overhanging the boundary or the roots where they cross the boundary line. RESPECTFUL. —Your father may please himself as to who shall resiile in his home. Tou have no right whatsoever to the property nor to interfere with the occupants. W.H.P. — (1) A person under the age of 21 years cannot marry without the consent of iher parents, " but if her parents unreasonably refuse consent a magistrate may give consent in place of the parents. (2) A child under the - age of 21 years may leave home provided that she is able to maintain herself and does in fact do so and leads a respectable life. FOR SALE.—You do not make it clear ■whether the Fair Rents Act applies to the roome let by you. If the Act applies your tenant will not be obliged to vacate on the expiration of the notice ae your letter discloses no ground und-er the Fair Rents Act upon which you will be entitled to obtain possession. The Fair Rents Act will apply to the tenancy if the rooms were let prior to the 11th June, 1030, whether to the same tenant or to a different tenant. If the Fair Rents Act does not apply you will be entitled to sue for possession as soon as the notice expires. TERRIER. —You should disclose the full facts to Army Headquarters and a suitable allocation will be made to meet your claims.

It was a touching eight. Both the cat and the lady were slumbering.

NORTH.—I gather that In part payment of the purchase money the purchaser transferred to you a mortgage over the property formerly owned by him. If the tronsfer has been properly made you ure entitled to all the benefits conferred on the mortgagee by the mortgage, and may take the appropriate stepe to enforce payment of principal and interest due under it. If default has been made in the payment of moneys due under the mortgage you should consult your solicitor. MORRIS (I'apakura).—TUl< onus is on you to prove that the garage is included in your tenancy. The fact that the landlord has from time to time need the garage himself without any -complaint from you indicates that the garage was not included in th« tenancy and that you have no right to It now. C'.D.H.—The facts in your letter diaclose that your neighbour is guilty of a nuisance. You may therefore viMier sue him for damages or for an injunction requiring him to take the necessary steps to prevent a recurrence of the trouble. It will probably be neceseary to do no more than get your solicitor to write to your neighbour drawing his attention to his liability and requiring him to remedy the unsatisfactory conditions. IMMIGRANT.—(I) It is quite likely that an arrangement of the kind you mention has been made. If you take proceedings for potwession of the goods it is probable that your creditor would immediately sue you for the balance due to him. It is only the presence of the goods where they can be seized or sold in pursuance of a judgment that induces your ' creditor to accept payment by instalments. Onoe the goods are removed he has no real security of assurance that he will ever be paid his debt. (2) Unless there are special circumstances or an agreement to do eo you will be under no liability to pay the costs of the other party's solicitor In respect of negotiations for an agreement which* woe never signed. VIOI-.ET\—ln the case of a married man the invalidity benefit is £78 a year, increased by £26 a year for his wife and a further £26 a year for each dependent child. The benefit ie, however, reduced by £ 1 for every complete £ of the total income of the applicant and of his wife and dependent children in excess of £78, and also by £ 1 for every £10 of the net capital value of the asset* of the applicant and his wife and children, computed in the game way as for applicants for age benefits. The applicant and his wife may therefore have up to £ 1000 in cash or other liquid assets without the benefit being reduced. He may also own n house and still receive the full benefit. BENEFIT. —The family allowance Iβ 4/ per week for each child in excess of two, bnt the total of the family income plus the family allowance must not exceed £5 per week, pliw 4/ per week for each child in excess of two. In your case the family income is £ 5 4/, eo that an additional family allowance of 4/ only will make up the total to the maximum of £ 5 8/ per week allowed where there are four children.