Married Women's Property (Scotland) Act 1881

1 Wife married after date of Act to have separate estate in moveables.

(1) Where a marriage is contracted after the passing of this Act, and the husband shall, at the time of the marriage, have his domicile in Scotland, the whole moveable or personal estate of the wife, whether acquired before or during the marriage, shall, by operation of law, be vested in the wife as her separate estate, and shall not be subject to the jus mariti.

(2) Any income of such estate shall be payable to the wife on her individual receipt or to her order, and to this extent the husband's right of administration shall be excluded; but the wife shall not be entitled to assign the prospective income thereof, or, unless with the husband's consent, to dispose of such estate.

(3) Except as herein-after provided, the wife's moveable estate shall not be subject to arrestment, or other diligence of the law, for the husband's debts, provided that the said estate (except such corporeal moveables as are usually possessed without a written or documentary title) is invested, placed, or secured in the name of the wife herself, or in such terms as shall clearly distinguish the same from the estate of the husband.

(4) Any money, or other estate of the wife, lent or entrusted to the husband, or immixed with his funds, shall be treated as assets of the husband's estate in bankruptcy, under reservation of the wife's claim to a dividend as a creditor for the value of such money or other estate after but not before the claims of the other creditors of the husband for valuable consideration in money or money's worth have been satisfied.

(5) Nothing herein contained shall exclude or abridge the power of settlement by antenuptial contract of marriage.