"OUT OF THE HOUSEKEEPING."

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 191, 7 May 1908, Page 3

"OUT OF THE HOUSEKEEPING."

A' - ? '~1. ,1 In ojir 45s»e„,oJt . )?s.' ,(<iW s ;he ■ Glasgow ' Herald")* "we " commented ipoh;a/k<ral., decision to.,the effect that., a vife's skvings"6ut 'of money allowed' her.- by ier ; husband for housekeeping purposes beams: the'; property 'of the'luisband's- credi;ors.in;the .event 'of'bankruptcy. That dosision received confirmation in tlio Divisional Dourt last week, when a husband claimed is his property the savings of his wife out )f' remittances .lie sent to her for her maiii;enance while he was abroad. Mr. Justice Phillimore, in giving judgment, laid it ijown rery clearly that, except in some special iases, money, saved by a wife out of Ker lousekeeping allowance was the property' of ;he .husband. . Mr. Justice' "Walton concurred,'. and the law appears.to be quite' ilain.:. The' matter is one of no small imlortance to creditors, having regard to the >xtent to' which the;, wife, of ":'a debtor is nit forward as claimant to certain of. tho issets. . Where the'question is raised as to low or where she got tho money to acquire ;he household furnitijre or to pay tho lifo nsurance' premiums, "savings out of . housaje^ping.•allowance";' have often . proved ;i ■aluahle refuse. It is now clear that such i reply will amount to : a surrender of fclio issets concerned to the creditors, as foruing part of the husband's estate. It .would lave been interesting if Justice Philliinore lad paused in his judgment to explain what ionstituted the exceptional cases in .which le thought the money could he regarded as belonging to the wife. He did not do so, loweveri so this must be left to surnuso. [t is notorious that liberal allowances have jeen made to wives to enable them !o c 'aim i title to assets requiring to be protected. •Some other device will now need to be disiovored. , ,