Married Women's Property Act, 1874
No: 3 Dated: Feb, 24 1874
THE MARRIED WOMEN’S PROPERTY ACT, 1874
ACT NO. 3 OF 1874
An Act to explain and amend the law relating to certain married women, for other purposes.
Preamble.—WHEREAS it is expedient to make such provision as hereinafter appears for the enjoyment of wages and earnings by women married before the first day of January, 1866, and for insurances on lives by persons married before or after that day:
AND WHEREAS by the Indian Succession Act, 18652 (10 of 1865), section 4 it is enacted that no person shall by marriages acquire any interest in the property of the person whom he or she marries, nor become incapable of doing any act in respect of his or her own property, which he or she could have done, if unmarried:
AND WHEREAS by force of the said Act all women to whose marriages it applies are absolute owners of all property vested in, or acquired by them, and their husbands do not by their marriage, acquire any interest in such property, but the said Act does not protect such husbands from liabilities on account of the debts of their wives contracted before marriage, and does not expressly provide, for the enforcement of claims by or against such wives;
It is hereby enacted as follows: —
I. — PRELIMINARY
1. Short title.— This Act may be called the Married Women’s Property Act, 1874.
2. Extent and application.— [It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.] But nothing herein contained applies to any married woman who at the time of her marriage professed the Hindu, Muhammadan, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain a religion, or whose husband, at the time of such marriage, professed any of those religions. And the State Government] may from time to time, by order, either retrospectively from the passing of this Act or prospectively, exempt from the operation of all or any of the provisions of this Act the members of any race, sect or tribe or part of a race, sect or tribe, to whom it may consider it impossible or inexpedient to apply such provisions. The [State Government] may also revoke any such order, but not so that the revocation shall have any retrospective effect. All orders and revocations under this section shall be published in the Official Gazette
3. [Commencement.] Rep. by the Repealing Act, 1876 (12 of 1876), s. 1 and Schedule.
II.—MARRIED WOMEN’S WAGES AND EARNINGS
4. Married women’s earnings to be their separate property. —The wages and earnings of any married woman acquired or gained by her after the passing of this Act, in any employment, occupation or trade carried on by her and not by her husband, and also any money or other property so acquired by her through the exercise of any literary, artistic or scientific skill, and all savings from and investments of such wages, earnings and property, shall be deemed to be her separate property, and her receipts alone shall be good discharges for such wages, earnings and property.
III. —INSURANCES BY WIVES AND HUSBANDS
5. Married women may effect policy of insurance. —Any married woman may effect a policy of insurance on her own behalf and independently of her husband; and the same and all benefit, thereof, if expressed on the face of it to be so effected, shall enure as her separate property, and the contract evidenced by such policy shall be as valid as if made with an unmarried woman.