LEGAL INQUIRIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23112, 10 August 1938, Page 22

LEGAL INQUIRIES

MANY PROBLEMS SOLVED This column appears each Wednesday. :Care will be taken to ensure thai 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 good faith, Postal box numbers are not accepted as bona fide addresses. Initials or a pseudonym -must also be given foi purposes<of reference in the column. Old Age Pensioner.—The purchase of £ motor-car b.v an old age pensioner woulc not of itself disqualify him. Rolorua. —You are not liable for the actioni of your tenants, but it is. possible tha your neighbour may be entitled, upon giv ing proper notice, to call on you to con tribute toward half the cost of the repaii of the fence. Long Handle. —A man with wife and on< child may earn up to £4 a week whili working under scheme 5 relief work. Sports J?aEfle. —A raffle or lottery is illegal under the Gaming Act. Certain art unions may be held legally witl the consent of the Minister of Internal Affairs. It is certain that he would, not approve a rafflo or lottery for private gain. "60."—Write to Somerset House, London to the .Registrar of Births, giving full par ticulars of the place of your birth and tlx date, the names of your parents, and enclosing a money order to yield 5s 1c English currency. Labour.—The general rule is that bott master and servant are entitled to reason' able notice of termination of the employ ment. What is reasonable notice depends upon the circumstances. It may be any thing from one hour to a year, accordiiif to the nature of the employment and othei matters. Generally speaking, one week'f notice would be sufficient for a farrr labourer. There is a statutory scale foi casual workers. That applies also to Maoris. Time off between milking does noi count toward the statutory holiday, except where it is given regularly every week, anc the worker agrees to count it as a half holiday, in which case (he statutory holi days in the case of dairy farmers are re duced from 28 days to 14. In the absenct of special agreement, the employee tannol claim his fare to the job. G.S.lf.E.—Yours is a common mistake. I is the employer who is liable to the worke; for injyry from an accident suffered ir the course of work, not the insurance comnany. The insurance company indemnifiei the employer. The worker, however, has t charge on insurance moneys. L.S.D.—You can have up to £SOO liquic assets (including money in • bank) befon the invalidity pension -will be affected. A single person can have up to £52 pei annum income. The applicant must bi totally incapacitated for work. Cash. —You would' be entitled to at least on< week's notice. A calendar month's notic* in writing if there was no agreement at to the nature or duration of the tenancj would be necessary. Trustee KK.—A trustee is not in genera entitled to delegate his duties or responsi bilitics. You must, therefore, satisfy your self that the trust account is in order. II you do not feel capable of doing this your self, you should employ an accountant. Quarter. —If a share-milker employs laboui he must pay the full wages himself. II the share-milker or any person employee by him does maintenance work, he is en titled to an increase in his share froir 25 per cent to .13 1-3 per cent after de duct,ion of cartage of cream and milk As to matters not mentioned in the Schedul< to the Sharemilking Agreements Act, thesf must be agreed upon between the parties Eockthrowing.—Your remedy is by civil pro cess, either for nuisance or trespass. Th< police will not assist you. as the matter it not criminal. Wondering.—-The Fair Rents Act applies to apartments separately let even though some of the conveniences are used in common. The Act applies to your premises, jnd the landlord cannot raise your rent without a magistrate's order. O.F.— (1) The wife would bo entitled to apply for an old-age pension, notwithstanding the fact that her husband is receiving a war pension. The war pension would be treated as income for the purposes of (he old-age pension. The total amount a married couple. may have by way of income and pension is £lO9 per annum. (2) The agreement is within the jurisdiction of the town board and cannot be upset. The town board would bo entitled to terminate the agreement and to force the occupier adjoining the road to fence his land. Hedge.—Your neighbour has no romedy against you in connection with the hedge, unless the same is a boundary fence within the meaning of the Fencing Act. If it is he can call upon you to repair it, which would include trimming it, and if you neglect it, he could claim half the cost of trimming the hedge. You would always be entitled to object, and a magistrate would then settle the matter between you. You can plant shrubs on your boundary line, but under the Fencing Act you are not entitled to plant trees on your boundary without the written consent of the adjoining occupier. If you do so without f such coosent he is entitled to such remedies, including the uprooting of the trees, which, however, is dependent upon a prior conviction under the section of the Act. But all theso remedies must be exercised within six months of the planting. As far as I know it has never been decided how close you can plant trees without their being on or alongside the boundary. It has, however, been held that trees planted two feet away from the boundary are not on or alongside the boundary. R.Q.—Thero is nothing in the Agricultural Workers' Act compelling a farmer to pay the fares of the worker to or from his work. If, however such fares have been paid by the farmer he cannot demand the return of the same. Opinion;.—The fact that the policy is on your life is not in itself conclusive evidence that it belongs to you. You will have to ascertain from the insurance company whether it is yours or your husband's. The fact that your husband pays the premium is not conclusive evidence that the policy belongs to him. If it is yours, you can deal with it by will as you wish. 8.M.N.E.-»-When you leave the dairy farm you will be entitled to pay for a further 11 days, with an allowance of 8s 0d per week in lieu of hoard, unless your wages have already included 17s 6d in lieu of board. Miner.—You can search tho records of the divorce proceedings in the Supreme Court at New Plymouth, and they will disclose whether a decree nisi was granted, and whether subsequently the decree was made absolute. Anxious.—Cows or other cattle wandering at large on roads can be impounded. If they break into fenced land, damages can be claimed by the owner against the owner of the cows. The same applies to pigs and, in addition, tho owner of fenced land under cultivation or in artificial grass can destroy pigs trespassing oi. his property. This latter being a highly penal provision, the procedure outlned in tho Impounding Act must be closely followed. The owner of unfenced land may impound cattle, but cannot recover damages. Tenant.—The Fair Rents Act does not apply to business premises. Where premises combine business and living quarters the Fair Rents Act only applies if the dominant purpose of the tenancy is residential. Dog Meat. —You are not entitled to lay poison on your property for dogs. Dogs seen running at large among or attacking them, may be destroyed. It has been held that the right to destroy a dog under these circumstances censes when tho dog ceases to worry the sheep. Righteousness.—Your father has received reasonable treatment from the mortgagees and there seems to he no reason why such treatment should not continue. Possibly when the mortgage falls due he will bo ahle to obtain a renewal of it. The mortgagee, however, will be entitled to insist on repayment of the amount of tho mortgage, and your father will either have io arrango a new mortgage, or find the money elsewhere, or the mortgagee will bo entitled to exercise his right and sell up the property. Your father will not be entitled to claim from tho mortgagee any improvements ho lias effected to the property. X.Y. —The man would be eligible for the New Zealand old age pension upon residing here for 12 months, upon his return to New Zealand. Carat.—The word is "carat." It is used in two ways. In one way it is a measure of weight for precious stones equal to approximately four grains. In another wav it is a measure of value of gold. For convenience pure gold is said to be 24 carat; 18 carat, would be 18 parts of pure gold to six parts of base metal. X.Y.Z.—The Fair Rents Act does not apply to houses first let subsequent to June i f, 103 R. You can therefore come to what agreement you can make with the tenant, and it will be enforceable. Uncertain.—You and your wifo would each receive an old age pension of £32 10s per annum. Interested.—ln the absence of a specific agreement in writing your neighbour cannot compel you to receive flood water from his drain. It would bo nocessnry to search the title to see whether any drainage easoment has actually been given. Redwatch.—Tho parties must agree on maintenance, or else the wifo is entitled to got a Court order upon tho making of the decree absolnto or within a reasonable time thereafter. IV.IT.W.—The Share-milkers Agreements Act, which came into force on August. 1, does not cancel existing agreements, but merely modifies them in so far as modification is necessary. You are entitled to terminate the agreement if your employer does not conform with the conditions in some material matter.