LEGAL INQUIRIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22211, 11 September 1935, Page 7

LEGAL INQUIRIES

MANY PROBLEMS SOLVED Legal inquiries are answered in this column every Wednesday. Every care will be taken to ensure that the legal guidance given is sound and accurate and as complete as possible on the facts supplied, but it is to be understood that no responsibility is undertaken for advice or information published in this column. Questions should be addressed to "Advocatus," care of the Editor. New Zkaland Hkkald, Auckland, and must bear the inquirer's name and address as a. guarantee of good faith. Initials or a pseudonym must also bo given for purposes of reference in the column. Ink Pot.—The only way of making certain of receiving rent from a tenant is to get it paid in advance. A lease may give a landlord the right to re-enter if the rent is not v>nid after a stated period. It is advisable to have a solicitor draw up any such agreement. Transfer. —The purchaser of a property is responsible for the costs of the preparation of the transter and stamp duty. J no Bcllrr is responsible for his solicitor a costs of perusal of the transfer. the purchaser's costs on a cash transaction under the Land Transfer Act involving £'2oo, including stamp duty and other payments, would be approximately £G to £7. Mi ner ,—(l) The Crown owns all gold and silver, whether on Crown lands or private lands, except in certain special cases. (2) If the land, though privately owned, in open for prospecting under the Mining Act, 192G, and a licence has been granted to a prospector in connection with that land, the owner cannot prevent the prospector from entering upon the land, but the owner is entitled to compensation for any damage done and to insist upon security being given to ensure this, oubject to the above, it is a matter ot arrangement between tho prospector ana the owner of the land. Anxious.—Since you entered into the mortgage before you were married, your iiusband is not liable. There is no method whereby you can escape your obligation except by going bankrupt. The mortgagee cannot be compelled to take the property back and accept it in full satisfaction of the amount due under the mortgage. Rates. —You can apply to the Valuer-General for a new valuation of your land. If y° u are not satisfied with such new valuation you can object. The matter will then come before the Assessment Court. If you are still not satisfied with the valuation as fixed by the Assessment Court, you can within fourteen days give notice to the Valuer-General that the capital value be reduced to an amount specified. If the Valuer-General declines to make such reduction, the iand must b« taken by the Government or sold at the "amount fixed. If the land is not sold or taken the valuation must be reduced to the amount specified. Eggs.—Under the regulations in force with regard to the sale of eggs it is only necessary to register if your hens number 25 or more. You are quite correct in your assumption that it is not necessary to register as your hens only number 21. Simple Simon.—The executor's or trustee's position will depend to a certain extent on the terms of the will. He may have power to postpone sale of any assets. In any case, since payment to you is dependent upon the realisation of the assets, and since the asset does not at present seom to be realisable except at an unjustifiable sacrifice, your best course appears to be to leave things ai they are until you can find a purchaser at a reasonable price. , Scottie. Pirongia.—The mortgage ig payable in New Zealand currency unless there is a specific clause in the mortgage to a different effect. The mortgagee, therefore, may lose or gain, according to the exchange rate, but the mortgagor is not affected. The mortgagee will receive a greater or less sum according to th» exchange rate between New Zealand and the country he is resident in. Theoretically, of course, the amount he actually receives is the same. Inquirer, A.M.F.—A farmer may apply tq the Mortgage Corporation for a loan notwithstanding the fact that hj» ia not in difficulties. In fact, it may be that he has a better chance of obtaining such a loan if his financial position is sound. The Mortgage Corporation has power to lend up to two-thirds of the value of the security, or, if tho Government sees fit to guarantee the additional amount, up to 80 per cent. Applications can now be made to the Mortgage Corporation, and forms may be obtained from your local post office. Speaking generally, the whole of the State Advance* business has bapn taken over by the corporation. Auto.—You would have to show that the local body was under a duty to keep the road clear of stock before you could claim damages from it arising out of a collision between such stock and your car. In general, there is no such duty on a local authority, and you would have to prove very exceptional circumstances to establish such a duty. Civis.— Notwithstanding that one partner in a partnership is an infant, the whole assets of the partnership are liable for the partnership's debts, and such debts take priority to any claim the infant may have in the. assets. Concerned.—All questions of maintenance are in the discretion of the Court. In considering the matter the Court takes into consideration the reasons for ration, the financial circumstances of the parties and their capacity to earn a livelihood. In the circumstances set out by you it appears that the Court would make an order for some amount at least in your favour. Moana— It appears from your letter that the persons using the tennis court do so "at the will" of the owner of the land. The matter is one, therefore, entirely of agreement with the owner. If the owner has gra-nted the use to one club, such club can prevent nnyone else from using it until they receive notice from the owner terminating their use. The fact of having built the courts or repairing them does not affect the position, although it is evidence of the grant of the use of the courts. Ab to what control over tho court may be exercised by a club will depend upon the rules of the club and the agreement with the owner of the land. Individual members will have no rights, except those given by the rules of the club. Constant Subscriber.—You are bound by your share-milking agreement to insure the house You hnve failed to insure and the owner has remedied such failure by insuring it. The owner can recover the insurance premiums from you, either under the contract, or by way of dam- ■ ages for breach of it. Mite Green.—lf you can prove ,an agreement to the effect that you are to be paid 13s a week, you are entitled to £B9 a year, and £3 per calendar month amounts to only £36. Therefore, you can claim a further £3. However, acceptance by you of £3 a month' is some evidence that this is your agreed wage. Fed Up.—Your difficulty is to prove actual misconduct. All the circumstances point to this, but you would have to prove these circumstances. Tho fact that your wife refuses to let you put the man out of the house and their other conduct would be probably sufficient for a Judse to make a decree, but everything would have to be proved by you. since you have no outside witnesses. Your nest course is to consult a solicitor, who may be able to show that there is certain corroborative evidence, and who, in any case, could write to your wife, requiring this man to be put out of the house. If she refuses, such refusal in itself supplies furfher evidence. Scot tie.—lt appears that you can prove that you gave the money to the barman to keep for you. The onus, therefore, is on him to prove that you agreed to his handing it to the proprietor or otherwise disposing of it. If he fails to do this judgment would be given against him The proprietor of the Tiotel is not in any way bound unless he actually rereceived the money, it being no part of the barman's duties to hold money m this way. Inquirer.—lf the wife can prove that she was compelled to leave her husband on account of cruelty on his part, and that she has been apart from him for three years, the Court will hold this to be constructive desertion on the part of the husband, entitling her to a divorce. This is the only method whereby she can obtain Vur freedom, unless she can prove that her husband has been guilty of misconduct. F.S.B.—Your landlord was probably entitled to a full calendar month's notice in writing. He appears to have agreed to accept n week's notice in writing. You nre not entitled merely to pay him half a week's rent, being the time that you were in the house, but must pay him the full amount. It is probahle. however, that if the other tenants moved in as you moved out. the landlord could recover only the actual loss of rent suffered by him. Incorporation.—There is a probability that the individual members of your unincorporated club are responsible for the liabilities of the club, but it would be necessary to know exactly how thp club operates, what its rules and regulations are, how it holds its property, and how the liabilities have been incurred, to give an opinion You will find in so far as the J hank overdraft is concerned that individual members of the club have signed an agreement with the bank. Your only course is to get a solicitor to investigate the position for you.