Nuding v. Urich

Citations

• 169 Pa. 289
• 32 A. 409
• 1895 Pa. LEXIS 1091

Syllabus

<p>Earnings of married women — Contract between husband and wife — Acts of 1887 and 1893.</p> <p>Where a husband consents to the employment of his wife and agrees that the wages shall be paid to her, she can recover them as against him, and he forfeits and surrenders to her any claim that he might otherwise have to them.</p> <p>A husband may contract directly with his wife for the performance of extra and unusual services in the course of his business outside of the family relation, and such contract will be deemed a waiver by him of all claim to her wages, and she will be entitled to be paid for such services out of the proceeds of a sale of her husband’s property.</p> <p>Personal services are a species of personal property; and as earnings represent the reward for such services, whether in money or chattels, it would seem that they may be “ acquired ” or “ owned ” or “ possessed,” within the fair meaning of the first section of the act of June 8, 1898, P. L. 344. The word “ acquire” in the act of 1893 includes everything included in the word “earned” in the act of 1887, P. L. 332. The act of 1893 was intended to place the rights and powers of married women upon a broader, more comprehensive and better defined basis than was accomplished by the act of 1887.</p>