INTESTATE HUSBAND'S ESTATE (SCOTLAND) BILL. (Hansard, 17 July 1911)

§ LORD SOUTHWARK

My Lords, I have to ask your Lordships to give a Second Reading to this Bill, the object of which is the same as that of the measure which was passed in the year 1890 for the rest of the United Kingdom—namely, to secure for the widow of an intestate husband who dies without issue the first £500 of the estate, and, in the event of the estate not yielding that amount, the whole of the estate. Under the existing law in Scotland half the estate under £500 goes to the widow and the other half to the next of kin. This Bill is of so simple a character that I do not think the House will desire to be troubled, with any lengthy observations upon it. What this Bill proposes has been in operation throughout the rest of the United Kingdom for the past 20 years. It has given universal satisfaction and has worked well, and the practical question arises, Why should not a Scottish widow be treated in this matter as well as an English or Irish widow? The Bill originated with an old Parliamentary friend of mine, Mr. Crombie, the late Member for Kincardineshire, and it has been passed through the House of Commons this year by Mr. J. McD. Henderson, the Member for West Aberdeenshire. It went through the other House without amendment, and I think I am right in saying that it has the approval of my noble friend the Secretary for Scotland. 504 I am sorry that my noble friend is absent to-day, but I hope some other member of the Government present may be authorised to say something on behalf of the Scottish Office if your Lordships desire any such statement.