may have been bona fide recovered against him in any legal wife's liabili 18. A husband and wife may be jointly sued in respect of Suits for any such debt or other liability (whether for contract or for ties. any wrong) contracted or incurred by the wife as aforesaid if the plaintiff in the action shall seek to establish his claim either wholly or in part, against both of them; and if in any such action, or in any action brought in respect of any such debt or liability against the husband alone, it is not found that the husband is liable in respect of any property of the wife so acquired by him or to which he shall have become so entitled as aforesaid, he shall have judgment for his costs of defence, whatever may be the result of the action against the wife if jointly sued with him; and in any such action against husband and wife jointly, if it appears that the husband is liable for the debt or damages recovered, or any part thereof, the judgment to the extent of the amount for which the husband is liable shall be a joint judgment against the husband personally and against the wife as to her separate property; and as to the residue, if any, of such debt and damages, the judgment shall be a separate judgment against the wife as to her separate property only. R. S. O. 1887, c. 132, s. 17. tween hus may be de cided in a sum as to property mary way. 19-(1) In any question between husband and wife as to the Questions be title to or possession of property, either party, or any corpora- band and wife tion, company, public body or society in whose books any stocks, funds or shares of either party are standing, may apply by summons or otherwise, in a summary way, to a Judge of the High Court, or (at the option of the applicant, irrespectively of the value of the property in dispute) to the Judge of the County Court of the county in which either party resides, and the Judge may make such order with respect to the property in dispute, and as to the costs of and consequent on the application, as he thinks fit; or may direct such application to stand over from time to time, and any inquiry touching the matters in question to be made in such manner as he shall think fit. (2) Any order of a Judge of the High Court, made under the provisions of this section, shall be subject to appeal in the same way as an order made by the same Judge in an action in the said Court. Married woman as an executrix or trustee. Saving of existing settlements, and the power to make future settlements. In what cases a married woman may (3) Any order of a County Court, under the provisions of this section, shall be subject to appeal in the same way as any other order made by the same Court. (4) All proceedings in a County Court, under this section, in which, by reason of the character or value of the property in dispute, such Court would not have had jurisdiction if this Act had not passed, may, at the option of the defendant or respondent to such proceedings, be removed as of right into the High Court, by certiorari, or otherwise, as may be prescribed by the Rules of Court; but any order made or act done in the course of the proceedings, prior to the removal, shall be valid, unless order is made to the contrary by the High Court. (5) The Judge of the High Court, or County Court, if either party so request, may hear any such application in his private. room. (6) Any such corporation, company, public body, or society, as aforesaid, shall, in the matter of any such application, for purposes of costs or otherwise, be treated as a stakeholder only. R. S. O. 1887, c. 132, s. 18. the 20. A married woman, who is an executrix or administratrix, alone or jointly with any other person or persons, of the estate of any deceased person, or a trustee alone or jointly as aforesaid, of property subject to any trust, may sue or be sued, and may transfer or join in transferring, in that character, any such particulars as are mentioned in section 10, without her husband as if she were a feme sole. R. S. O. 1887, c. 132, s. 19. 21. Nothing in this Act contained shall interfere with or affect any settlement or agreement for a settlement made or to be made, whether before or after marriage, respecting the property of any married woman, or shall interfere with or render inoperative any restriction against anticipation at present attached or to be hereafter attached to the enjoyment of any property or income by a woman under any settlement, agreement for a settlement, will, or other instrument; but no restriction against anticipation contained in any settlement or agreement for a settlement of a woman's own property to be made or entered into by herself shall have any validity against debts contracted by her before marriage, and no settlement or agreement for a settlement shall have any greater force or validity against creditors of such woman than a like settlement or agreement for a settlement made or entered into by a man would have against his creditors. R. S. O. 1887, c. 132, s. 20. 22.—(1) Any married woman having a decree for alimony against her husband, or any married woman who lives apart der of protec earnings of from her husband, having been obliged to leave him from obtain an orcruelty, or other cause which by law justifies her leaving him tion for the and renders him liable for her support, or any married woman her minor whose husband is a lunatic either with or without lucid intervals, children. or any married woman whose husband is undergoing sentence of imprisonment in the Provincial Penitentiary or in any gaol for a criminal offence, or any married woman whose husband from habitual drunkenness, profligacy, or other cause, neglects or refuses to provide for her support and that of his family, or any married woman whose husband has never been in this Province, or any married woman who is deserted or abandoned by her husband, may obtain an order of protection, entitling her, notwithstanding her coverture, to have and to enjoy all the earnings of her minor children, and any acquisitions therefrom, free from the debts and obligations of her husband and from effect of such his control or disposition, and without his consent, in as full order. and ample a manner as if she continued sole and unmarried. Purport and whom an order (2) The married woman may at any time apply, or the How and by husband or any of the husband's creditors may at any time, on discharging notice to the married woman, apply for the discharge of the protection order of protection; and if an order for such discharge is made, obtained. the same may be registered or filed like the original order. may be duplicate. (3) Either order may issue in duplicate, and where the mar- Either order ried woman resides in a city or town in which there is a Police may be in Magistrate, the order for protection or any order discharging By whom to be the same shall be made by the Police Magistrate, and shall be and towns. registered in the registry office of the registry division in which Registration. the city or town is situate. made in cities der made else (4) Where the married woman does not reside in a city or By whom ortown in which there is a Police Magistrate, the order shall be where than in made by the Judge or one of the Judges, or the acting or city or town. Deputy Judge of the Division Courts or a Division Court of the county in which the married woman resides; and instead of being registered, shall be filed for public inspection with the Clerk of the Division Court of the division within which the married woman resides. be or (5) The hearing of an application for an order of protection, Hearing may or for an order discharging the same may be public or private pe public at the discretion of the Judge or Police Magistrate. have effect tered or filed. (6) The order for protection shall have no effect until it is Order not to registered or filed, and the registrar or clerk shall immediately until regison receiving the order endorse thereon the day of registering or filing the same; and a certificate of the registering or filing Evidence of and date, signed by the registrar or clerk for the time being, order, etc shall be prima facie evidence of such registering or filing and date; and a copy of the order which is registered or filed certified under the hand of the registrar or clerk to be a true copy thereof, shall be sufficient prima facie evidence of the order From what time the order discharging protection shall take effect. Legal representative of married woman. Married women's 1st July, 1884, not affected. without proof of the signature of the registrar or clerk, and without further proof of the order itself, or of the making or validity thereof. (7) The order for discharging an order of protection shall not in any case be retroactive, but shall take effect from the time it is made, and the order for protection shall protect the earnings of the minor children of the married woman until an order is made discharging such order of protection, and the married woman shall continue to hold and enjoy to her separate use whatever, during the interval between the registering or filing of the order of protection and the making of the order discharging the same, she may have acquired by the earnings of her minor children. R. S. O. 1887, c. 132, s. 21. 23. For the purposes of this Act the legal personal representative of any married woman shall, in respect of her separate estate, have the same rights and liabilities and be subject to the same jurisdiction as she would have or be if she were living. R. S. O. 1887, c. 132, s. 22. 24. This Act shall not be construed to deprive a woman rights prior to married prior to the commencement of The Married Women's Property Act, 1884, of any right or privilege which she had at the time of the commencement of that Act, or would afterwards have had if that Act had not been passed. R. S. O. 1887, c 132, s. 24. 47 V., c. 19. COMPANIES. R. S. O. 1897, CAP. 191; 61 VICT., CAP. 19. An Act respecting the Incorporation and Regulation of Joint Stock Companies. H ER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows: 1. This Act may be cited as "The Ontario Companies Act." Short title. tion. 2. Where the words following occur in this Act, or in any Interpretaletters patent and supplementary letters patent issued under this Act, they shall be construed in the manner hereinafter mentioned, unless a contrary intention appears:— (a) "Judge" shall mean one of the Judges of the High Court "Judge.” of Justice. |