S. 4; 63 & 64 Vict. c. 26, s. 6 see Wms. Real Prop. 521, 522, 21st ed.

(g) Below. Chap. XII. Sect. 2.

(h)See stats. 46 & 47 Vict, c. 52, s.4; 53 & 54 Vict. c.71 s. 1, A debtor commits an ac1 of bankruptcy if amongst other things execution against him has been levied by seizure of his goods under process in an action in any Court or in any civil proceeding in the High Court, and the goods have been either sold or held by the sheriff for twenty-one days,

In this context "goods" includes all chattels personal, but not ap-parently chattels real: see stat. 46 & 47 Vict, c 52, ss. 45, L68. It' execution be levied on a debtor's leaseholds by writ of fi. fa., and the sheriff hold them for twenty-one days, it is a question whether an act of bankruptey is committed: and if so, a purchaser of the land could not safety complete his contract, even with the judgment creditor's concurrence: see above, p. 548

If either vendor or purchaser, having been sane when the contract was made, become of unsound mind before its completion, that does not avoid the contract, and an order for its specific performance may nevertheless be obtained (l). As, however, a person of unsound mind can make no valid conveyance or payment to another, who has notice of his mental condition (m), he cannot himself well perform the acts necessary to completion. But the effectual completion of the contract may be obtained in certain cases by means of an order under the Lunacy Acts, 1890 and 1891 (n). By these Acts, the Judge or a Master (o) in lunacy may by order authorise the committee of a lunatic to perform any contract relating to the property of the lunatic entered into before his lunacy (p); and in the case of persons of unsound mind,'not being lunatics so found by imposition, to whom the powers of management and administration given by the Act of 1890 apply (q), such of the powers of that Act as are made exercisable by the committee of the estate shall be exercised by such person as the Judge or Master shall direct (r). And the committee of the estate, or such person as the Judge or Master approves, shall in the name and on behalf of the lunatic execute and do all such assurances and things for giving effect to any order under this Act as the Judge or Master directs, and every such assurance and thing shall be valid and effectual, and shall take effect accordingly, subject only to any prior charge to which the property affected thereby at the date of the order is subject (s). If the vendor become of unsound mind after the contract has been so far executed that he is a trustee for the purchaser within the meaning of the statutes authorising vesting orders to be made as to the estates of trustees (t), an order vesting the vendor's estate in the purchaser may be obtained under the Lunacy Act, 1'890 (u).

Lunacy.

(i) See Ridout v. Fowler, 1904, 1 Ch. 658. 2 Ch. 93; above, pp. 505, 506, 529, 530, 538; and see above, p. 36; below. Chap. XVIII. Sec. 2, XIX. Sec. 1.

(k) Chap. XII. Sec.2.

(l) Owen v. Davies, 1 Ves. sen. 82; Hall v. Warren, 9 Ves. (i05.

(m) Wms. Real Prop. 298, 299, 21st ed.; Wms. Pers. Prop.

95, 159, 16th ed.

(n) Stat. 53 Vict. c. 5, s. 120 (i).

(o) Stat. 54 & 55 Vict. e. 65, s. 27 (1), which enabled the jurisdiction of the judge in these respects to be exercised by the Masters; see Re Browne, 1894, 3 Ch. 412: Re Lang dale, 1901, 1 Ch. 3.

(p) Stat. 53 Vict. c. 5, s. 120 (i) .

(q) By stat. 53 Vict. c. 5, s. 116 (1), these powers apply - a To lunatics so found by inquisition;

(b) To lunatics not so found by inquisition for the protection or administration of whose property any order has been made before the commencement of the Act:

(c) To every person lawfully detained as a lunatic though not so found by inquisition (see Re Whalley, 1906, 1 Ch. 565);

If either party to the contract be a single woman, and marry pending completion, she is not, under the present law (x), disabled from enforcing or completing the contract by herself alone. If she should have made no disposition of her interest in the contract by way of settlement, she will on marriage become entitled to the same as her separate property (y) and will be enabled to sue alone in respect thereof as if she were a feme so!e(z). And she will be liable to be sued thereon without her husband being joined (a); although he will be liable on the contract to the extent of all property belonging to her which he shall have acquired or become entitled to from or through her, after deducting therefrom any payments made by him, and any sums for which judgment may have been bond fide recovered against him at law in respect of her ante-nuptial debts, contracts or wrongs (b), and he may be sued on the contract either alone or jointly with her accordingly (c). If she be the vendor, her estate in the land sold will become her separate property on marriage, unless otherwise disposed of by ante-nuptial settlement, and she will be able to convey the same to the purchaser without her husband's concurrence (d). In consequence of the inconvenient doctrine that the legal estate in land vested in a married woman as trustee does not become and cannot be conveyed as her separate property (e) - a doctrine intended to be remedied by the Married Women's Property Act, 1907 (f), which enabled a married woman to dispose as if she were a feme sole of real or personal property held by her as trustee or personal representative - it seems necessary to point out that when a vendor of land, being the beneficial owner thereof, is or pending completion becomes a married woman, the purchaser could not before that Act and cannot now require the concurrence of her husband in the conveyance on the ground that she became an absolute trustee for the purchaser at the time when the title was accepted (g). For in the first place, when a married woman is disposing of her separate property for her own use, she is not a trustee thereof within the meaning of this doctrine at any time prior to the execution of the contract by payment of the purchase money (h). And secondly, even admitting that she were an absolute trustee for the purchaser on acceptance of the title, she would, on payment of the price, become a bare trustee for him(i), and so might well make a conveyance to him on receipt of the purchase money by virtue of the power of conveyance given to married women, who are bare trustees, by the Trustee Act, 1893 (k). The marriage of a man does not, of course, affect his legal capacity. But on the marriage of either party to the contract, whether man or woman, the other party should inquire whether any settlement or agreement for a settlement has been made affecting the property sold or his or her interest in the contract (l); as if any such disposition should have been made, the contract can no longer be safely or properly completed with the lately married party alone, but the concurrence of the persons to whom his or her interest has been assigned must be obtained (m).