LEGAL INQUIRIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23088, 13 July 1938, Page 22

LEGAL INQUIRIES

MANY PKOBLEMS SOLVED This column appears each Wednesday. Care will be taken to ensure that the legal guidance is sound and accurate and as complete as possible on the facts supplied, but no responsibility is undertaken for the advice or information. Send questions to "Advocatus," care of Editor, New Zealand Herald, Auckland, and enclose name and address as guarantee of eoocl faith. Postal bos numbers are not accepted as bona fide addresses. Initials or a pseudonym must also be given for purposes of reference in the column. Inromc Tax. —Members of Parliament pay income tax on their remuneration. Argument.—Jurors are paid by the Government. Where the hearing of a case involves a jury, additional fees are charged against the plaintiff by the Court. Refund.—lt is true that the statutory provisions relating' to share-milking agreement do not come into force until August 1, 1038. However, if your employer has already paid you your share at the statutory rate, he cannot now claim a refund. J.S., Auckland.—For the purpose of the widow's pension, "widow" includes a woman whose husband is detained in an institution under the Mental Defectives Act. If the husband is let out on probation, the pension still continues until his final discharge. Mary.—For pension purposes continuons residence in New Zealand is not broken by an absence up to 12 months, nor is it broken where the absence exceeds 12 months, if for each six months of ahsence the applicant has lived in New Zealand a year in addition to the prescribed ten years. Jn your case, .vour parents can be absent before the half year. They will be to the full pension. They can have up to .(.'52 a year income, without it being affected. Income, Cambridge.—Males over Go years of age and females over (10 years of age, whoso income from all sources does not exceed £lO4 a year, are, exempt from the employment charge on income other than salary or wanes. Puzzled.—Time off between milkings does not in general count toward a statutory holiday. If it is given regularly every week* the worker may agree with his employer to count it as a half-holiday, in which case the statutory annual holidays will be reduced from 28 days to 14. You will be entitled to 28 days' holiday upon completing 48 weeks' work. Kaiapoi.-—Get in touch with the nearest District Labour Office to find out, whether there is an award in operation in your district, and whether you are a party to it. J.A.—A magistrate may make an order for the maintenance of a wife if she is a destitute person, i.otwitlvtanding that she has agrped to separate from her husband in writing, and to claim no maintenance. The order may be made although the husband is in Australia. M. Akea.—Your wife should receive £53 per annum old age pension. Farmer.—You are liable to compensate your neighbour for the damage done to his hedge bv your cattle reaching over the fence and eating it. The action amounts to a trespass. A.A. —A writer may write the life of any person, living or dear'* and neither the living person nor the executors of the dead person can prevent him from so writing, unless the book is libellous. Willing to Work.—The matter is in the discretion of the Employment Board. In Doubt. —In the absence of RPf.nal agreement a farm worker is not entitled to be paid while absent from work on account of illnefs.

Re-insurance. —Endowment policies surrender value which increases with the number of years the policy has run. No 1 Mug.—Under the 1933 Companies Act claims for calls on unpaid share capita are good for '2O years. You are still liable. Old Pioneer. —You should each be entitled to the full old age pension. Kai—\ magistrate would probably allow your wife £2 10s a week for herself and the children. There is no fixed scale for maintenance. Doubtful.—The fact that you are an old age pensioner will not excuse you from paying land tax if the unimproved value of your land exceeds £.">oo. Ignoramus.—You cannot compel your neighbour to cut or trim his hedge unless (a) it is a boundary fence within the meaning of the Fencing Act; (b) it encroaches on your property, causing you by such encroachment actual pecuniary loss. Es Presumably the estate is in New Zealand. You are entitled to one-third of your late husband's estate, and his children to two-thirds. Your children are entitled to nothing. The whole trouble has been caused by intestacy. A.V.S.—The property must of necessity first be registered in the executors names and then transferred to the beneficiary. Anxious. —Whether or not your wife works is a matter of agreement between her and your employer. Maize Grower.—lf your property is sufficientl.v fenced within the meaning of the Fencing Act. you can destroy pigs trespassing on it, since it is under cultivation. This is a very drastic remedy, and the procedure laid down in the Impounding Act should be strictly followed. You would also have a right, of action against your neighbour for trespass. O.T.C.—The answer to both your questions is "no." Tt would in effect be a mortgage of land, and this does not count as pVoperty for pension purposes. L K. —Even if the Fair Rents Act applies, you have the right to secure possession of the premises on the grounds that the conduct, of the tenant is a nuisance and an annoyance to adioining occupiers. P.W., New Lynn.—lf the case is in Auckland it cannot come on before July If. when the Supreme Court sessions commence. Whether or not it comes on at those sessions will depend upon whether the petitioner sets the case clown for hearing. You can obtain further information you require from the Supreme Court office at Auckland. Fair Rent.—The general opinion is that the Fair Rents Act applies to rooms let. If this is so, all the tenants are protected by the Act, and the rent cannot bo raised nor can the purchaser demand possession of the premises except upon the grounds set out in the Act. Health.—Your neighbour is entitled to build his co«shed on the spot he has decided on, and you have no remedy simply by reason of its proximity to your house. Old and Weacy.—On your present position you would get approximately £f?9 pension between you and your wife. If your income falls to below £.V_> a year, you will get the full pension each. Curious.—ln the absence of specific agreement, the tenant is under no obligation (o allow prospective purchasers to look through the house rented by him. Kornsey.—The Fair Rents Act does not apply to a house or flat first let after the coming into ooeration of the Act, namely, .Tune 11. ItW<>. Essendon.—lf default is made by the mortgagor in observing the order of the Adjustment Commission, you as mortgagee can exercise your right without hindrance. You are a second morta-agee. There appears to be a charge for rates and also electric power. Tn that case you could sell the property only if the sale was niado subject to prior charges.