The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1938-08-25
Legal Status OF
Women Surveyed
In u. S. Report

w nat rlgnCS ana responsiveness 40
Ohio women have under the State laws
dealing with political and civil mat
ters? All persons interested in this
question will welcome a bulletin just
issued by the Women's Bureau, U. S.
Department of Labor.
Entitled "The Legal Status of Wom-
en- in Ohio, and prepared by Sara Lou
Use Buchanan of the Bureaus research
staff, this study is one section of full
report on all the States, still in prep
aration. The whole survey was under
taken by the Women's Bureau in re-
sponse to request submitted to this
country by the League of Nations, and
the information as finally compiled will
be used in conjunction with more or
less similar data from other countries
to present a world picture of the legal
status of women today, according to
Mary Anderson, Director of the Wom-
ems Bureau.
"a major aim of the individual
State studies as directed toward AM
erican women readers is to help them
acquire through individual and group
efforts an effective working knowledge
Of the laws most definitely concerning
them, Miss Anderson stated. "It
points the way to answering questions
that grow out Of woman's ever-wid-
ening responsibilities in family and
civic life.
"For example, does wife own the
wages she earns by her personal la
Dor? If she is compelled to go to court
to collect them, can she sue in her own
name without her husbands consent? ?
Could her husbands creditors take her
property for his debts Who owns the
property which is accumulated by the
; cooperative efforts of husband and
wife if no special agreement is made =?
If husband or wife dies, what rights
does the survivor have in the estate (?
What provision does the law make for
the family while the estate is being
settled? When is wife liable for the
family expenses? Which parent is en-
. titled to the earnings of the minor
children who work outside the home :?
How much property is exempt from
seizure for debt? What are the grounds
for marriage annulment For divorce :?
Is a common-law marriage valid? At
what age can minor contract a law
full marriage? Is it possible for a per-
son not yet of age to make a good
deed to her property? Who would have
custody of a minor child after the
death of one parent-a guardian Of it's
person named in the will Of the de-
cedent, or the surviving parent? These
. are some of the questions facing a
woman citizen today, and dealt with
in this report on Ohio.
'In general, questions of women's
legal status in the United States are
closely tied up with our social and &C.
onomic developments. The common law
brought to this country by the colon
: lists from England and at first adopted
, without positive legislative act but
through the sanctions of the courts,
became the fabric on which the Ma
tion's Jurisprudence is woven. In many
: instances, as a result Of changing con-
ditions and needs, certain inadequacies
: in the common law, including injustices
to women, have been alleviated through
: enactment of specific laws.
"The Ohio report follows general
plan for all the States, giving in sim
plified form for use by lay persons a
: compilation from State laws and con-
trolling decisions of the highest court
intended to show the relations between
the State and its women citizens in
: matters of political and civil rights
and duties. Such political phases as
jury service, public office, wifes le-
gal domicile are covered as we'll as
: general phases of family law and the
: Contract and property rights Of mar
ried women"
. Since the legal status of the unmar-
ried woman in Ohio is practically that
Of the unmarried man, the other ma
terial reported on centers largely
: around the woman in the marriage re-
} lation.
: Certain features Of Ohio law relat-
ing to the property rights and family
relations of women and appearing in
the report follows:
Either spouse may enter into any
engagement or transaction with the
other or with any other person, as if
unmarried.
A married woman may contract for
goods, including necessaries for the
family, in her own name and on her
own credit, and thus bind herself for
payment.
No special legal procedure is re-
quired for married woman to engage
in a separate business.
With certain exceptions neither hus-
band nor wife has any interest in the
property of the other.
There are no restrictions peculiar
to married woman's will
The right of husband and wife in
the estate of deceased spouse are
the same.
Neither husband nor wife may dis
inherit the other by will.
Both sexes may marry at 21 years
of age without consent of parents, sur
Vlvlng parent, or guardian.
Lacking specific statutory provis-
ion, marriage annulment seems to be
granted only upon satisfactory proof
I>f L