780  ;  Kay,  J.,  He  Paper,  L.  B.  39
0.  D.  491  ;  58  L.J.  0.  215.
MARPIED  WOMEN.  485

upon  a  person  for  life,  with  a  general  power  of  appointment,    Ch.  hi.
and  the  remainder  in  default  of  appointment,  to  the  repre-  '-


sentatives  is  held  to  be  equivalent  to  absolute  ownership  ;
and  property  so  settled  to  the  separate  use  of  a  married
woman  is  chargeable  with  her  contracts  (r) ;  but  not  if  the
remainder  is  to  another  person  (s).
The  Act  applies  to  all  kinds  of  contracts  and  debts  of  a  Contracts
married  woman  :  as  bonds,  bills  of  exchange  and  promissory  Act.
notes  (f) ;  a  contract  to  take  shares  in  a  company  and  to  pay
calls  and  all  liabilities  of  a  shareholder  (m)  ;  including  an
indemnity  of  the  transferor  against  calls  with  which  he  may
become  chargeable  after  the  transfer  (x)  ;  also  a  guarantee
for  goods  supplied  or  for  a  loan  of  money  to  her  husband  (y).
Debts  incurred  for  necessaries  under  circumstances  in  which
the  husband  is  not  liable  are  presumptively  charged  upon  the
wife's  own  separate  property  (s).  The  Act  has  not  a  retro-
spective effect  upon  contracts  made  before  the  Act  came  into
operation ;  but  a  consent  order  made  since  the  Act  to  refer  to
arbitration  an  action  upon  such  a  contract  is  a  contract  within
the  Act,  which  is  chargeable  upon  separate  property  (a) .  A
married  woman  may  enter  into  a  contract  jointly  with  another
person,  or  jointly  with  her  husband  ;  and  may  sue  or  be  sued
as  a  joint  plaintiff  or  a  joint  defendant,  her  interest  being  in
respect  of  her  separate  property  (6). — Before  the  Act  a  mar-  Contracts

implied
in  law.
