278 
Legal Questions 
Outlawed Account 
What longth of tinio outlaws a book 
account in the Slate <if rcnnsylvania V 
Pennsylvania. K. B. S. 
.\ction.s for account (except mutual 
accounts between merchants) must be 
commenced within six years from the 
time the right of action accrues. 
Disposition of Property by Will 
What is the law in this State in re¬ 
gard to making a will and giving most 
of your property to charity, provided 
.said party has mj relatives nearer than 
uncles, aunts or cousins? Should the 
l)arty making the will have a copy, or 
isn't it necessary? S. 
Xew York. 
The law is that no person having hus¬ 
band, wife, child or jjarent is permitted 
to give by will to any benevolent, chari¬ 
table, literary, scientific or religious so¬ 
ciety, associati(m or corporation, more 
than one-half of his estate, after pay¬ 
ment of debts. There is no reason, in 
your case, why you may not leave most 
of your property to charity. It is not 
necessary to have a copy. 
Buying Property at Tax Sale 
A number of years ago a friend of 
mine bid off several lots in this village 
at a tax sale. I have a list of them he 
gave me in IfiOS. so i m certain he has 
had possession of them since that time, 
lie does not want the .. but hesitates 
to give a wari'unty deed. S ppose I 
were to buy them from him, taking a 
«juit claim deed, then built on them and 
S(dd. or s<dd vacant lots to sonu'one elsi*. 
I am a property holder here and respon¬ 
sible. Some argue that party owning 
lots at time of tax sale might come on 
after there were buildings erected, and 
other imi)rovements made on lots, and by 
j)aying up hack tax(‘s. could hold prop¬ 
erty, without compensating the party 
who had put on buildings. J. P. 
X(>w York. 
Probably the best thing for you to do 
is not to build on these lots. ‘^roi)erty 
bought for non-iiayment of taxes does 
not giv(! the owner the best of titles. 
The courts have held thes(> tax sales to 
be very technical proceedings, and if 
there is a Haw anywhere they will .set 
aside the title. ^ The pre.seut owner 
should give nothing more than a (piit- 
claim deed. If you put i)roperty on the 
lot.s, and lat<‘r the former owner took 
l>roceedings to .set aside the tax sale, it 
would at least put you to a lot of trou¬ 
ble and expense. ev<'n if the court al¬ 
lowed you to recover for the property 
you had placed on them. The gf'ueral 
rule is. that buildings i»laced on property 
without the iiermission of the rightful 
owner, pass in title, along with the real 
in-operty, to the idghtful owner. 
Tuition in High Schools 
I find on jtage a question regard¬ 
ing “Tuition (’harges for Xon-Itesident 
Scholars.'’ The answ(u- given is incor¬ 
rect. as I understand the que.stimi. See 
enclosed page torn from education law, 
1914: 
“0. To each city and union school dis¬ 
trict maintaining an academic depart¬ 
ment, twenty dollars per year for at 
least thirty-two weeks’ instruction or a 
proportionate amount if for eight weeks 
or more for each non-resident jtupil at¬ 
tending the academic department of such 
school from districts not maintaining 
Such academic deiiartments and who 
shall be admitted to such academic de¬ 
partment without other expense for tui¬ 
tion than that provided herein. Put 
jiupils residing in districts not maintain¬ 
ing a four-ymir curriculum may be in¬ 
cluded in this apiiortionment after hav¬ 
ing coinjileted the course of study pre¬ 
scribed for the school in the district in 
which they rc'side. In the apportion¬ 
ment to cities and union school districts 
whose customary charge for non-resident 
pujiils is greater than the sum provid d 
by this sub-division, the commissioner of 
education may iiermit the sum so appor¬ 
tioned to be ajqdied upo_’ uch customary 
charge for such non-resident pupils, pro¬ 
vided the balance of such customary 
charge shall b(' assumed by the school 
district in which .such on-resident pupil 
is residi'u . and the payment tlwn-eof 
shall h ave been provided for at a school 
district meeting held in su h district. 
\Sithdiri‘<ion 
27(>. <111(1 
(iineii<J(’(l l>!i Tj. 1912, ch. 
191.9, ch. 999, ill effect April 
29, 1919.] 
In our section of the Sta pupils who 
have passed all the preliminaries and are 
thus entitled to enter the high school 
de)iartnient may atteml ^ thout 
tuition. The State pays the .school ^20 
tuition for each such child. B. A. Ji. 
Dunkirk, N. Y. 
'I'lie section of the school law which 
you enciose does not forbid the charging 
of tuition to non-resident pupils by high 
schools. It simply provides that a high 
scliool may receive from the State $20 
for each non-resident pupil in its aca¬ 
demic department. If (the customary- 
charge of the high school is more than 
$20, this amount may still be received, 
jirovided that the balance is paid by the 
district from which the pupil comes. 
Oic RURAL ^ 
This law is apparently designed to en- 
.courage the entrance of district school 
pupils into high schools and to at least 
partially recompense the high schools 
taking them for the additional expense 
that their presence involves. While the 
State will pay $20 per pupil as tuition 
fee, there is nothing in the law, so far 
as I know, to prevent a high school from 
charging the pupil twice that amount. 
M. B. D. 
Rights Under Contract 
A buys a tract of land from B by 
contract and pays $100 to bind bargain. 
In six months he pays $200 more on 
I)urchase price. Contract calls for full 
pyament in three years. I have only paid 
.$.900 so far and this contract has run 
out. Does this contract hold good after 
date, or am I compelled to buy under 
the Virginia law? c. c. A. 
Virginia. 
In ca.se of any question of the rights 
under a contract the express terms of the 
contract will govern. Where the con¬ 
tract does not cover certain contingen¬ 
cies the intent of the parties is tried to 
be found in what is expre.ssed. In your 
case you say the contract has expired and 
the pre.sumption is if the point is not 
covered by the terms of the contract 
that inasmuch as A has not completed 
his part of the contract within the time 
limit, he has forfeited his right to the 
money he has paid. The contract having 
by its terms expired it looks as if you 
would have to proceed under the Vir¬ 
ginia law. 
Closing Road 
Has the highway commissioner the 
right to close a road that has been open 
to the public for a hundred or more 
year.s, by doing so cutting off my wood 
lot in such a way that if I get to it at 
all it must be through priv.ate property? 
Should I be refused this privilege, there 
is no way in the world for me to get my 
wood and timber, which would make a 
valuable timber lot absolutel'’ worthless 
to me. OWNER. 
Xew York. 
Every highway that .shall not have 
been traveled or used as a highway for 
EW-YO R K E R 
six years .shall cease to be a highway, 
and every public right of way that shall 
not have been used for that length of 
time .shall be deemed abandoned as a 
right of way. The town superintendent 
shall file and cause to be recorded in the 
town clerk's office of the town a writti-n 
description, signed by thenii of each 
highway abandoned and it shall there¬ 
upon be discontinued. This is the law, 
and it would therefore seem to be his 
right to close your road if the circum¬ 
stances warrant it. They may declare a 
qualified abandonment of the road where 
for two years less than two vehicles .a 
daj’ have passed over it. If it was closed 
<jr abandoned you would ju-obably still 
have a way of necessity to your wnod lot, 
or, if worst came to worst, you <-<.u'd 
open a private road to it. 
Distribution of Estate 
If the husband dies in Xew .Tusey 
leaving no children and no will, how 
much of his personal belongings and real 
e.state does his wife receive? If the wife 
dies does it all go to the husband? 
Xew' Jer.sey. B. 
Where there are no children the sur¬ 
viving husband or wife has a life inter- 
<'st in one-third of the real property, of 
the deceased and all of the personal 
property. _ 
Return of Life Interest in Property 
A man gave to his younge.et son the life 
use of a farm of 190 acres, valued at 
about $10.(X)0. in 1.S94, by a deed. Xow 
this young man will deed back to his 
father for a good consideration all his 
right and title as is now vested in him. 
Would a quit claim (feed from the young 
man back to his father be enough to hold 
the farm as it was before the life use was 
given to the young man? The warranty 
deed right has never passed from the 
(‘filer man. K. n. C. 
Ohio. 
A quit claim deed from the son to the 
father would be sufficient. It would be 
well if in the quit claim he specifically 
mentions the fact that he is deeding back 
to his father all of his rights acquired 
from his father through the deed men¬ 
tioned, specifically giving the date and re¬ 
cording of it if it ever has been reconfi-d. 
February 24, inir. 
It would also be well for extra luecau- 
tion if the son state in the deed that the 
only right he ever exercised over the prop¬ 
erty was that acquired from his father's 
deed. A simple quit claim, however, 
would probably be .sufficient for all pur- 
po.'^es. _ 
Signing Lease by Agent 
I have rented a farm for 1917. The 
wife of the landlord signed the contract 
as the landlord told her to in my pres¬ 
ence as he wa.s a p(K)r writer. Is such 
a C(mtract as legal as though the land¬ 
lord signed it? c. I), s. 
.X(‘w York. 
A rental for a period of a year from 
Ihe making thereof does not necessarily 
have to be in writing. Hut the safer 
way is to have it in writing and in this 
(•a.-je would have been better if the land¬ 
lord had signed the leas(‘ himself. He 
of course may make his wife his agent, 
hut she should then sign as agent and 
that Would be .some evidence later on in 
ca.se it became necessary for you to prove 
agency. Against theii- combined evi¬ 
dence to the contrary how could you 
|)rove that he authorized her to sign his 
name and the .signature not being his 
how then could you prove it to be his 
act? To lu'ove the fact of signing in 
case it ever came in doubt is the reason 
for having witnes.ses to .signatur(‘s in 
the majority of cases. 
Hay, very best, $12; larger part $10. 
Oats .")0c bu.: butter 90 to 9oc in trade 
for goods. Eggs, fresh, 40c. Xew milcli 
cows, good ones, $75. Those to freshen 
in .'Spring $00 for good ones, others from 
$25 up. Chee.se 24c. Very little grain 
f(jr sale; nearly all farmers will have to 
buy nine-tenths of grain feed. X"o fruit 
or vegetables, farmers mostly buy pota- 
t(jes from outside markets. a. d. 
Jeffer.sou Co., X. Y". 
Merchants and hucksters pay the fol¬ 
lowing prices : Butter 96c lb.; eggs 40c ; 
chickens 15c: veal calves 10c; dressed 
pork 12c to 12y2C. Turkeys 25 to 90c; 
ducks 16c; geese 20c. Wheat $1.60; 
coi-n SOc; oats 4.5c; rye $1.10; buck¬ 
wheat $1.60 for 100 lbs. Fresh cows 
bring from $60 to $109; lots of hors^es 
for sale but no market. Apides 9.5 'to 
40c per bu.shel. w. L. Ii. 
Luzerne Co., Pa. 
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