HC Deb 19 May 1965 vol 712 cc231-2W
41 and 42. Mr. Abse

asked the Minister without Portfolio (1) what action he is taking upon the comment of a judge in the case of National Pro- vincial Bank Limited v. Ainsworth that the present law relating to the matrimonial home of a deserted wife is unsatisfactory; and whether he will cause an examination of the law to be made by the Law Commissioners in order to ensure that any third party acquiring property that is the home of a deserted wife should do so subject to the wife's and children's right of occupation.

(2) whether he is aware that a deserted wife and abandoned children can be dispossessed of the family home by an owner who has purchased the home from a deserting husband; whether he is aware that the court in the case of National Provincial Bank Limited v. Ainsworth has stressed the unsatisfactory position of the deserted wife; and whether, in order to prevent a deserting husband from selling the matrimonial home and using the funds to set up a home with another woman, he will now review the recommendations contained in paragraph 685 of the Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce.

Sir Eric Fletcher

The decision of the House of Lords in National Provincial Bank Limitedv. Ainsworth was given as recently as last Thursday. My noble Friend the Lord Chancellor has not yet had an opportunity of considering its implications.

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