1572. Grounds of Divorce.

The grounds of divorce are very various, and in most cases fit only for confidential communication to a solicitor. In all cases a highly respectable professional adviser should be employed.

1573. Sentence of Judicial Separation.

A sentence of judicial separation may be obtained either by the husband or the wife, on the ground of desertion without cause for two years or upwards. To const.i.tute wilful desertion on the part of the husband, his absence must be against the will of his wife, and she must not have been a consenting party to it.

1574. Insufficient Grounds.

Persons cannot be legally separated upon the mere disinclination of one or both to live together. The disinclination must be proved upon, reasons that the law recognises; and the court must see that those reasons actually exist.

1575. Costs.

The amount of sosts of a judicial separation or a divorce varies from 25 to 500 or more, according to the circ.u.mstances of the suit, and the litigation that may ensue. But a person being a pauper may obtain relief from the court by suing _in forma pauperis._ Any such person must lay a case before counsel, and obtain an opinion from such counsel that he or she has reasonable grounds for appealing to the court for relief. The opinion of the counsel must then be laid before the judge ordinary, and leave be obtained to proceed with the suit.

1576. Magisterial Order for Protection of Wife's Property.

When a wife is able to prove that her husband has deserted her without cause and against her will, she may obtain from the Matrimonial Court, or from the judge ordinary, an order to protect her against his creditors, and against any person claiming under him, by way of purchase or otherwise, any property she may acquire by her own lawful industry, or may become possessed of after such desertion.

1577. Obtaining an Order.

The order may in any case be obtained from the court, and when the wife lives in London, from a police magistrate; or where she lives in the country, from two magistrates sitting in petty sessions.

1578. Nature of the Order (1).

The order does not prevent the Husband returning to his Wife, but only prevents his taking her earnings while the desertion eontinues.

[HOME IS HOME, BE IT EVER SO HOMELY.]

1579. Nature of the Order (2).

The order, when obtained, puts the wife in the same position with regard to ownership of property and the right to sue and be sued upon contracts (that is, all bargains and business transactions), as if she had obtained the decree of judicial separation, placing her, in fact, if the situation of a single woman.

1580. Penalty.

If after this Order is made, the husband, or any creditor of his, or person claiming through him by purchase or otherwise, should seize or continue to hold any property of the wife, after notice of such order, the wife may bring an action against her husband or such other person, and may recover the property itself, and double its value in money.

1581. Liability of Husband for Wife's Debts.

A husband is only liable for the debts and liabilities of his wife contracted before marriage to the extent of the property which he receives from, or becomes ent.i.tled to through his wife. The wife herself is liable to the extent of her separate property for all debts incurred by her either before or after marriage.

1582. Earnings, etc., of Married Women.

A married woman, after January 1, 1883, may carry on business separate from her husband, and is ent.i.tled absolutely for her separate use to all wages and earnings acquired by her in any employment, occupation, or trade, in which she is engaged, and which she carries on separately from her husband, and to all money acquired by her through the exercise of any literary, artistic, or scientific skill, and her receipt alone is a good discharge for the amount.

1583. Personal Property, etc., of Married Women.

A woman married after January 1, 1883, is ent.i.tled to hold all real and personal property which she was ent.i.tled to either at or after marriage, for her separate use.

1584. To Search for Wills.

If you wish to examine a will, your best course is to go to "The Wills Office," at Somerset House, Strand, have on a slip of paper the name of the testator--this, on entering, give to a clerk whom you will see at a desk on the right. At the same time pay a shilling, and you will then be ent.i.tled to search all the heavy Index volumes for the testator's name. The name found, the clerk will hand over the will for perusal, and there is no difficulty whatever, _provided you know about the year of the testator's death._ The Indexes are all arranged and numbered according to their years.

Not only the names of those who left wills are given, but also of those intestates to whose effects letters of administration have been granted. There is no charge beyond the shilling paid for entering. If you require a copy of the will, the clerk will calculate the expense, and you can have the copy in a few days. No questions whatever are asked--nor does the length of the will, or the time occupied in reading it, make any difference in the charge. Beyond the shilling paid on entering, there is no other demand whatever, unless for copying the whole or a portion of the will.

If the deceased at the time of his death had a fixed place of abode within the district of any of the District Registries attached to the Court of Probate, the will may now be proved, or letters of administration obtained from the district registrar. There are numerous district registries, viz., at Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, York, Newcastle, Durham, and other places. If the will has not been proved in London, it will be found in the registry of the district in which the deceased dwelt at the time of his death. The same rules are observed in the country as in London, with regard to examination, &c.

The fee--one shilling--is the same in all. Having ascertained that the deceased left a will, and that it has been proved, the next inquiry is, _"Where was it proved?"_ The above explanation and remarks apply also to the administrations granted to the effects of those who died without wills.

[EVERY MAN'S HOUSE IS HIS CASTLE.]

1585. Making a Will.

The personal property of any person deceased, left undisposed of by deed or will, is divisible among his widow, should he leave one, and his next of kin, in the following order:

i. Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, &c. The next inheritors, in the absence of these, are,

ii. Father;--if none, mother, and brothers and sisters, and their children (but not their grandchildren);

iii. His grandfathers and grandmothers;--if none,

iv. His uncles and aunts;--if none,

v. His cousins, and great-nephews and nieces.

1586. Further Details on Intestacy.

If the Deceased leave a Widow, but no child or children, one half of his personal estate will fall to his widow, and the other half will be divisible among the next of kin. The father of an intestate without children is ent.i.tled to one half of his estate, if he leave a widow, and to the whole if he leave no widow. When the nearest of kin are the mother and the brothers and sisters, the personal estate is divisible in equal portions, one of which will belong to the mother, and one to each of the brothers and sisters; and if there be children of a deceased brother or sister, an equal portion is divisible among each family of children.

1587. Valid Wills (1).

Wills, to be Valid, can only be made by persons at or above the age of twenty-one, and in a sound state of mind at the time of making the last will and testament; not attainted of treason; nor a felon; nor an outlaw. As regards the power of married women to make wills, a married woman may make a will, disposing, as she may think fit, of all property to which she is ent.i.tled for her separate use.