13 A. 588 | N.H. | 1887
"Every married woman shall have the same rights and remedies, and shall be subject to the same liabilities in relation to property held by her in her own right, as if she were unmarried, and may make contracts, and sue and be sued, in all matters in law and equity, and upon any contract by her made, or for any wrong by her done before marriage, as if she were unmarried; provided, however, that the authority hereby given to make contracts shall not affect the laws heretofore in force as to contracts between husband and wife; and provided, also, that no contract or conveyance by a married woman, of property held by her *479
in her own right, as surety or guarantor for the husband, nor any undertaking by her for him or in his behalf, shall be binding on her." Gen. Laws, c. 183, s. 12. Since the passage of the act of July 18, 1876 (Laws of 1876, c. 32), embodied in the foregoing section, it has not been necessary to the validity of a married woman's contract that it should be connected with or relate to property held by her in her own right. The only limitations upon her capacity to make contracts are those contained in the two provisos. Harris v. Webster,
The purpose of the second proviso of the act of 1876 was to deprive the wife of her common-law capacity to mortgage her estate to secure the payment of her husband's debts (Babbitt v. Morrison,
It does not appear that the plaintiffs were called at the husband's request, or that he assumed any obligation to them. So far as the case shows, it was an independent contract on the part of the defendant, made on her own account, without her husband's solicitation or knowledge. It is not invalid for the mere reason that it was intended for and resulted in benefit to him.
Judgment for the plaintiffs.
CLARK, J., did not sit: the others concurred.