NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1965 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 878

HOUSE BILL 319

 

 

AN ACT TO REWRITE CHAPTER 52 OF THE GENERAL STATUTES RELATING TO PROPERTY RIGHTS OF MARRIED PERSONS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  Chapter 52 of the General Statutes, entitled "Married Women", is hereby repealed and is rewritten to read as follows:

"Chapter 52

"Powers and Liabilities of Married Persons

"§ 52-1.  Property of Married Persons Secured. The real and personal property of any married person in this State, acquired before marriage or to which he or she may after marriage become in any manner entitled, shall be and remain the sole and separate estate and property of such married person and may be devised, bequeathed and conveyed by such married person subject to such regulations and limitations as the General Assembly may prescribe.

"§ 52-2.  Capacity to Contract. Subject to the provisions of G.S. 52-6, G.S. 39-7 and other regulations and limitations now or hereafter prescribed by the General Assembly, every married person is authorized to contract and deal so as to affect his or her real and personal property in the same manner and with the same effect as if he or she were unmarried.

§ 52-3.  May Insure Spouse's Life. Any married person in his or her own name, or in the name of a trustee with his assent, may cause to be insured for any definite time the life of his or her spouse, for his or her sole and separate use, and may dispose of the interest in the same by will.

"§ 52-4. Earnings and Damages. The earnings of a married person by virtue of any contract for his or her personal service, and any damages for personal injuries, or other tort sustained by either, can be recovered by such person suing alone, and such earnings or recovery shall be his or her sole and separate property.

"§ 52-5.  Torts Between Husband and Wife. A husband and wife have a cause of action against each other to recover damages sustained to their person or property as if they were unmarried.

"§ 52-6.  Contracts of Wife With Husband Affecting Corpus or Income of Estate; Certain Conveyances by Married Women of Their Separate Property. (a) No contract between husband and wife made during their coverture shall be valid to affect or change any part of the real estate of the wife, or the accruing income thereof for a longer time than three years next ensuing the making of such contract, nor shall any separation agreement between husband and wife be valid for any purpose, unless such contract or separation agreement is in writing, and is acknowledged before a certifying officer who shall make a private examination of the wife according to the requirements formerly prevailing for conveyance of land.

"(b)      The certifying officer examining the wife shall incorporate in his certificate a statement of his conclusions and findings of fact as to whether or not said contract is unreasonable or injurious to the wife. The certificate of the officer shall be conclusive of the facts therein stated but may be impeached for fraud as other judgments may be.

"(c)       Such certifying officer must be a Justice of the Supreme Court, a Judge of the Superior Court, a Judge of the District Court, a Clerk, Assistant Clerk, or Deputy Clerk of the Superior Court, or a Justice of the Peace, or a Magistrate, or the equivalent or corresponding officers of the state, territory or foreign country where the acknowledgment and examination is made.

"(d)      This Section shall not apply to any judgment of the Superior Court or other State court of competent jurisdiction, which, by reason of its being consented to by a husband and his wife, or their attorneys, may be construed to constitute a contract between such husband and wife.

"(e)       Any other provisions of this Section to the contrary notwithstanding, in all cases where a married woman owning property as an individual joins with her husband in execution of a deed conveying her real property to a third party and said third party reconveys said real property to said wife and her husband as tenants by the entirety and in the deed to the third party the acknowledgment as herein provided was not complied with, but in all other respects the acknowledgment of the execution of said deed and the probate and registration thereof are regular, such conveyances shall not be void but shall be voidable only, and any action, the purpose of which is to have said conveyances set aside or declared invalid shall be commenced within seven (7) years after the recordation of such deed in the office of the register of deeds of the county or counties in which said real property is located. If no such action is or has been brought then the effect of the conveyances shall be to create an estate by the entirety.

"G.S. 52-7.  Validation of Certificates of Notaries Public as to Contracts or Conveyances Between Husband and Wife. Any contract between husband and wife coming within the provisions of G.S. 52-6, executed prior to the first day of January, 1955, acknowledged before a notary public and containing a certificate of the notary public of his conclusions and findings of fact that such conveyance is not unreasonable or injurious to the wife, is hereby in all respects validated and confirmed, to the same extent as though said certifying officer were one of the officers named in G.S. 52-6.

"G.S. 52-8.  Validation of Contracts Between Husband and Wife Where Wife is not Privately Examined. Any contract between husband and wife coming within the provisions of G.S. 52-6 executed between October 1, 1954, and June 20, 1963, which does not comply with the requirement of a private examination of the wife and which is in all other respects regular is hereby validated and confirmed to the same extent as if the examination of the wife had been separate and apart from the husband. This Section shall not affect pending litigation.

"G.S. 52-9.  Effect of Absolute Divorce Decree on Certificate Failing to Comply With G.S. 52-6. Whenever it appears that, since the execution of a contract between a husband and wife in which the certificate of acknowledgment thereof fails to comply with the requirements of G.S. 52-6, a valid decree of absolute divorce between said husband and wife has been rendered, no action shall be maintained by her or anyone claiming under her for the recovery of the possession of, or to establish title to any interest in any property described in such contract unless such action is commenced within seven (7) years after such decree of absolute divorce has become final or unless such action is commenced before May 1, 1958, whichever date is later.

"G.S. 52-10.  Contracts Between Husband and Wife Generally; Releases. Contracts between husband and wife not forbidden by G.S. 52-6 and not inconsistent with public policy are valid, and any persons of full age about to be married, and, subject to G.S. 52-6, any married persons, may, with or without a valuable consideration, release and quitclaim such rights which they might respectively acquire or may have acquired by marriage in the property of each other; and such releases may be pleaded in bar of any action or proceeding for the recovery of the rights and estates so released.

"G.S. 52-11.  Antenuptial Contracts and Torts. The liability of a married person for any debts owing, or contracts made or damages incurred before marriage shall not be impaired or altered by such marriage. No person shall by marriage incur any liability for any debts owing, or contracts made, or for wrongs done by his or her spouse before the marriage.

"G.S. 52-12.  Postnuptial Crimes and Torts. No married person shall be liable for damages accruing from any tort committed by his or her spouse, or for any costs or fines incurred in any criminal proceedings against such spouse."

Sec. 2.  Subsection (b) of G.S. 39-13.2, as the same appears in the 1963 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 2 A of the General Statutes, is hereby amended by striking from the second line the figures "G.S. 52-12" and substituting in lieu thereof the figures "G.S. 52-6".

Sec. 3.  Subsection (e) of G.S. 39-13.3, as the same appears in the 1963 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 2A of the General Statutes, is hereby amended by striking from the second line the figures "G.S. 52-12" and substituting in lieu thereof the figures "G.S. 52-6".

Sec. 4.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 5.  This Act shall become effective upon its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 9th day of June, 1965.