BANKRUPTCY LAW

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23471, 7 October 1939, Page 8

BANKRUPTCY LAW

PAYMENT TO WIFE RETURN TO THE ASSIGNEE Various bankruptcy matters were dealt with by Mr. Justice Callan in the Supreme Court yesterday. An agreement on "he claim of the Official Assignee that Mrs. Hilda Derrick (Mr. M. Robinson), wife of Thomas Derrick, a bankrupt farmer, ■ > should' be required to. refund moneys paid to her by* her husband, was reported bj - Mr. G. S. R. Meredith, on' behalf of the Official Assignee. "I may say I have read the papers," said His Honor, "and I am glad to discover that the lady has now got professional' advice from somebody who knows a'little more about bankruptcy law than she thought she did." Mr. Meredith said it was alleged that £240 had been paid bv the bank- . rupt to his wife with a view to defrauding his creditors, and that she used part of that to purchase a business. The settlement agreru oil was tliat Mrs. 1 Derrick should transfer this business to the' Official Assignee-and consent to judgment for £133 Is 9d, that amount representing the difference between the value of the business and the amount required to pay all the creditors and various administration charges. ' ' Mr. Robinson consented to an order in those terms, which was made. In the case of Mrs. Dorothy Baker, on whose behalf Mr.- M. Adams sought her discharge from bankruptcy, the Official Assignee recommended a, sus- • pension of six months before discharge. Mr. Adams said Mrs. Baker had already suffered a delay of six weeks in her application. "It was a pretty bad bankruptcy," said His Honor. "I do not like being rude to a lady, but I think if tliis particular lady gets her discharge in five months she is lucky." He granted discharge. subject to a five months' suspension. Discharges were granted to Mrs. Margaret Davidson, of Auckland (Mr. Griffiths), and to Arthur Francis Hamilton and William Reginald Hamilton, contractors, of Auckland (Mr. Turner). ...