The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1900-07-13
THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF WOMEN.
AS Established in Wisconsin.

Watkins, read at the req ueSt of the WO
man Club at the Reception of all the
women clubs of Lancaster:
81 have been asked to present for your
consideration resume of the rights of
women in respect to property under the
Laws of Wisconsin.
Woman in this state, has all the
property rights that man has, and even
more. Whatever property she has, real
or personal, whether received by in
heritance or acquired by her own labor
or investment, is her own absolutely.
She can invest it as she chooses, can buy,
sell, and manage her Individual property
with the same freedom as her brother,
and can sue and be sued the same as he.
IF she married her right to manage
her individual property remains unim-
paired. With all my worldly goods |
thee endow' is not part of the marriage
VOW taken by the WIFE What was hers
remains her own. It is not subject to
her husbans disposal, nor liable for his
support or his debts, although he is liza
able for her support and to pay
all debts she may contract for neces-
saries and our courts are very liberal in
their construction of the law as to what
constitute the 'necessaries' of the wife.
But the debts must be those of the wife:
the husband is not liable for ANY debt
contracted by tine woman before mar
riage.
The wife may loan money to her hus-
band and receive security from him as
from stranger may take title to real
property from her husband and convey
to him as if the marriage relation did not
exist between them. The individual
earnings of a married woman, except
such as arise from labor performed for
her husband or payable by him, are her
separate property. She may sue and be
sued in her own name in regard to her
separate property; judgments rendered
against her may be enforced against her
separate property, but Judgment rem
dered against husband and wife as Joint
defendants to recover damages for
wrong committed by wife, shall be sat-
isfied from the property of the wife only,
and IS not lien against the property of
the husband.
In the matter of real property the I'M
married adults of both sexes stand on an
equal footing. Each has the same right
to buy, sell or convey title, lease and
mortgage real estate. But the real es-
tate of the man who is married is to
some extent under the control of his
wife. Does he wish to sell his home
stead? Unless his wife joins with him
in the deed the conveyance to the pur-
chaser is absolutely void Would he
give a mortgage on his homestead as
security for a loan CT debt? Again is
the concurrence of the wife necessary to
release her interest in his land or he
mortgage is of no effect. There is one
exception to this rule A mortgage Civ
ell to secure the payment of the purchase
price of the homestead does not equire
the signature of fhe wife, as her home
stead and dover right in the land does
not accrue until it becomes the property
of her husband. SO that if wife chooses
to defeat sale of the home or a change
of residence she has legal right to do
so, whether the moral right exists or not.
It is often said that widow is entitled
to third of all the property of her
deceased husband. This statement needs
some qualification. If man dies leav-
ing wife and no children, she is his sole
heir and inherits all of his property stu
ated in this state. Where the deceased
leaves child or children, and was seized
of real estate at the time of his death,
the widow is entitled to homestead and
dover right in all of his real estate. The
homestead right is the right to the use
of the homestead during her life or until
she marries. If the husband owned
farm upon which he lived, then the home
stead consists of 40 acres of land includ.
ing the dwelling house of the deceased.
This 4O acres may be taken in any form
or shape chosen by the widow, but it
must be one piece of land in compact
form, and must include the dwelling
house. Should the real estate of the
deceased be situated in village or city,
then the homestead comprises the dwell
ing house and land adjoining not exceed
ing one-fourth of an acre. A widow is
not required to occupy the homestead
in order to hold it. She may lease or
| rent it and nse the proceeds as she
pleases, and have residence in other
place. Besides this homestead right the
widow has also dover interest in the
lands of her husband. This is right to
the use of one-third of the real estate
outside of the homestead during the re-
| mainder of her life
The distribution of personal property
is more complex. The widow is entitled
| to her own wearing apparel and orna-
ments, to the wearing apparel and orna-
naments of her deceased husband, to
household furniture not exceeding $3.50
in appraised value, and to other personal
property to be selected by her to the
value of 5000. The remaining personal
| property, after the payment of debts,
funeral expenses, expenses of administra-
tion, is divided equally among the widow
and children, share and share alike. the
| widow taking the same portion as child.
Should there be one child her share
would be one-half, if two, one third, etc.
All these provisions as to homestead,
dover, and personal property, are to ap.
ply to those cases where the husband
dies interstate, that is, without disposing
of his property by will. But if will is
made, and the provisions made therein
is not satisfactory to the widow, she is
not bound by them. She may if she
chooses, waive her right under the will
and take the statutory provisions made
for her, except that, If she does so, she
shall not take more than one-third of the
property left by the deceased husband.
The reason for this is easily seen. Should
the widow be the sole heir at law, then
a.