Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman

A note is not invalid for the reason only that it is ante dated or post dated, provided this is not done for an illegal or fraudulent purpose. The person to whom it is delivered...

Another kind of deed used in selling land is called an indenture. This is signed by all the parties, and copies are usually made and delivered to all of them. This deed also con...

A liability cannot be imposed on a person without his act or consent. One man cannot force a benefit on another without his knowledge or consent, and then compel him to pay for...

The legal effect of divorces is still a grave matter. When a divorce has been legally granted by a state, the courts of every other state for obvious reasons recognize and try t...

To every contract there must be two or more parties, who have the legal right to make it. Not every person therefore who wishes to make a contract can legally do so. Of those wh...

Suppose one has purchased the stock of a bank or railroad company, which the seller refuses to deliver, has the buyer a legal remedy for damages, or an equitable remedy to compe...

When a person is really acting as an agent, but this is not known by the persons with whom he is doing business, he is liable to them as if he were the principal. It often happe...

Directors sometimes go astray and cases are constantly arising to determine their liability. When a corporation has failed or passed a dividend nothing is more common than to ac...

If a depositor in a bank has made a note payable there this is regarded very much like a check, it is a direction to the bank to pay it, especially by the Negotiable Instruments...

A sleeping car company operating in connection with ordinary trains is not a common carrier, nor an innkeeper as to the baggage of a passenger. Yet it is liable for ordinary neg...

If an obstruction exists on the right-hand side of a highway, the driver of a car may be justified in passing to the other side, and in driving along that side until he has pass...

When a lease is renewed, the new lease may be regarded in two different ways. It may be considered as the continuation of the lease, and thereby protecting all the interests cre...

The liability of the shareholders of a corporation is very unlike that of members of a partnership. It was the liability of each partner for all the debts of a concern that kept...

The appointment and employment of a master is wholly within the discretion of the owners. On his death or removal in a foreign port a successor may be appointed by the consul re...

Slanderous words that are actionable have been thus classified by the United States Supreme Court: "(1) words falsely spoken of a person which impute to the party the commission...

The receiving of a new member constitutes a new partnership. It may reorganize the old partnership and become responsible for its debts, or it may not. Unless recognized in some...

A policy of life insurance payable to the insured, or in the event of his death to his personal representatives, may be assigned unless forbidden by statute, therefore a policy...

=Workmen's Compensation Acts.=--Who is entitled to compensation by these acts? The proper test to apply is, whether the employer possessed the power to control the other while a...

The facts that are of special value in finding out whether a thing is a fixture or not are: (1) the actual annexation of the article to the realty; (2) the immediate object or p...

After one month, and within a year from the adjudication of bankruptcy, the bankrupt may apply for a discharge. The petition must state concisely the orders of the court and the...

That the said party of the first part, in consideration of the rents, covenants, and agreements hereinafter mentioned, reserved, and contained on the part of the said party of t...

_Gentlemen._--We will be responsible to you for goods sold to C.D., of ________, to an amount not exceeding ________ dollars (or, for cash advanced to C.D., of ________ not exce...

Know all men by these presents, that I ________ of the county of ________, in the state of ________, do hereby bargain, sell, and convey to said ________, the following describe...

+-----------------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's Note: | | | | Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | | been preserved. Bolded text...

Bankrupt, voluntary and involuntary defined, 31; filing of petition of voluntary, 33; withdrawal of petition, 33; what must accompany petition, 33; filing of petition against, 3...

Messages, telegraph, should not be made public, 247; may be produced by order of a court, 247; criminal offense to divulge, 247; to open or read a sealed, 247; repeated and unre...