The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-01-31
DESK STUDIES FOR GIRLS:
THE LAW.
VII. THE LAW RELATING TO
MARRIED WOMEN.
BY ALBERT 5. BoLLEs, IL D.

/ By the common law marriage had
/ curious effect on woman. She almost
/ ceased legally to- be. She could make
no contracts, and her husband kindly
I relieved her of pretty nearly every
/ thing she had in the way Of property
/ He was the owner even Of her clothes,
/ any candy she might have in her pock-
/ cts, her railroad ticket or any other
/ thing which he thought worth having
/ On the other hand he was bound 20
I support her, and even the little blilS
[ she might have contracted before mar
riage for millinery. dressmakinS, soda
} water, rouge and the like, he was legal
4 ly bound to pay. So too, in the eye OF
/ the law and in his presence she could
/ do no wrong, and this was very delight
/ full. She might be q, real viraso ana
thrash a man before her husband S
! eyes. yet in law (what a curious thing
4 the law isl she had done no wrong
/ her husband was the sinner and mad
! to suffer for it. If she could sue no
/ one for any wrong done to her. on the
! other hand no one could sue her alone;
/ her husband must be made party IN
all cases.
/ This legal relation was based on the
4 idea that by marriage the two per
4 sons were blended into one, 4 kind OF
/ Siamese twin affair, and that public
/ policy required they should be kept
as closely together, during all weathers
/ and on ell occasions, as possible. Con-
sequently she could make no con-
/ tracts, for if this were permitted, she
/ could forthwith assert some ndepend-
ence, on which the law coldly frOwned.
She could not even make a will and
give away her property, still less make
/ q gift during her lifetime. IN short,
/ from one point of view she was the
nearest to zero of any living thing.
Then equity, not law, began to have
| pity on her and come to her relief. 1t
/ declared that if she had any real es-
tate before marriage or thai if any
good uncle should remember her after
ward and give her a corner city lot or
a farm, she might still hold it as her
own. Her husband might be perfectly
willing to take it, but she could keep
it if she wished and make a contract
with reference thereto that would be
binding Such a contract equity up
held as a charge on or against the real
estate. In other words, the other con-
tracing party might lend her money
on the security of her real estate, and
in the end take it if the debt was not
paid Her personal property, however,
her stocks, bonds and the like, all went
by the common law TO him, and thus
she was relieved Of all thought Of TAX
ing care Of them. Possibly the learned
Judges may have thought that by Civ
ing her such a unique position among
; the daughters of women they were ia
Z voring marriage, which the courts,
4 whatever others may think, have al
ways regarded as desirable for the
well-being of society.
AS the trembling steps Of equity In
Z favor of married women did not result
in the overthrow of the happiness of
: the family, but rather tended to
! strengthen it. the legislatures gradu-
Il ally began to set aside the common law
and permit married women to keep
their property and to make contracts in
relation thereto. Before giving the
more important Of these changes it may
be noted that by common law when a
1 Wife'S husband left the country or per
/ manentIy abandoned her she had al
most the same rights as an unmarried
woman. Again, if he were ciVilly dead,
for example, if he were banished, out
lawed or imprisoned for life (Which
many doubtless regard as an uncivil
! DEATH, his wife could sue and be sued
and make contracts just as she could
I before this strangely civil thing had
, happened to him. But the insanity of
a husband has never endowed her with
similar freedom.
; 1t may also be stated that, while the
happy effect of marriage often is, and
rightly, too, to add somewhat to the
dignity and Importance Of the parties
in society, it has not the magical effect
of removing their minority If they hap
; pen to be under age at the time Of mar
rying. Marriage may have the effect
of taking a good deal out of them in
the way of money, temper and the like,
: inf e,tfT IN info n
husband may feel very proud over his
feat of marriage, but in law he cannot
make a contract for a single more goose
egg than he could before. And If both
are infants, as they sometimes are in
more senses than the strictly legal one,
they are under the same disabilities to
make contracts for any other purposes
than necessaries until they attain their
majority as are other infants
By statute law a married woman can
in every state probably make a will and
dispose of her property as freely as an
unmarried one, except so far as the
husband may have some rights in her
property, as she has in his. Thus, in
/ nearly every state, if not all, married
/ woman is entitled to the use or income
of a part usually one-third) of her
husbands real estate after his death,
and he cannot by his will cut her off
from this right. This is called her dow
er. If he should give her other prop
erty. stocks, bonds, etc, thinking she
would prefer them, she could reject
these and stick to her rights in his real
estate. Sometimes she does 50. When
she thinks she can get more from this
than the personal estate given to her,
/ unless her love for him gets the better
of her love for the larger possible in
come, she declines to receive that. given
to her by will and elects TO take mis-
real estate under the law. Usually
when he has tried to cut her off with
an inadequate or improper sum, her
affection for him has not been so far
raised by the act as to blind her eyes
TO the larger possibilities.
In this same connection something
may be said concerning deeds Of real
estate given by married persons. As a
married woman has right Of dover in
her husbands real estate. in many
states he cannot give a valid deed TO
such property unless she signs it with
him. This is not the law in all of them,
especially the older states. On the other
hand, he must join with her in a deed
for the sale of her real estate. At COM
] mon law, before equity regarded her,
he had an actual estate to sell and
convey; but even now, though her real
estate Is actually held as her own, he
must IN most cases sign the deed with
her to make the sale and transfer valid.
Turning from real estate to personal,
very generally a married woman can
Keep her personal estate and the in
come therefrOm quite as effectively as
she could if unmarried. This applies
to the personal property she may have
at the time of her marriage or that
. is gained afterward either by gift, pur-
chase or labor. In other words she
can hold and manage it quite as freely
as she could if there were no husband