Westgate v. Munroe
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract for work done and materials furnished in repairing a dwelling-house. At the trial in the superior court, before Brigham, J., it was agreed that the defendant was the wife of Hezekiah Munroe, to whom she was married before 1857, in which year the land on which the house was built was conveyed to her, to her sole and separate use; and that the plaintiffs after-wards did the work and furnished the materials with her knowledge and while she was living in the house with…
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Contract for work done and materials furnished in repairing a dwelling-house. At the trial in the superior court, before Brigham, J., it was agreed that the defendant was the wife of Hezekiah Munroe, to whom she was married before 1857, in which year the land on which the house was built was conveyed to her, to her sole and separate use; and that the plaintiffs after-wards did the work and furnished the materials with her knowledge and while she was living in the house with her husband and children; and there was evidence that one of the children paid the plaintiffs fifty dollars on account…
1Opinion of the CourtHoar, J.
The defendant, being the owner of real estate which was conveyed to her sole and separate use, had, although a married woman living with her husband, the same power to make a contract respecting it as if she were sole. Gen. Sts. c. 108, §§ 3, 5. The exception that she cannot convey it without her husband’s assent is not material in the present case. We therefore so far agree with the ruling at the trial as to entertain no doubt that if a person, with the knowledge of the owner, performs valuable services upon the separate property of a married woman, it is evidence of an employment by her,…
2Cited by10 opinions
- Puget Sound Lumber Co. v. KrugCalifornia Supreme Court · 1891
- Reid v. MillerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1910
- Dyer v. SwiftMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1891
- Beston v. AmadonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1898
- Howard v. Harvard Congregational SocietyMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1916
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