7. Accounts With Married Women

In the Province of Quebec, on account of the restrictions imposed by the law of that province on married women, it is essential that the fullest particulars should be obtained at the time the deposit is taken. When a married woman makes a deposit, the name of her husband, with the post office address of each (in the event of their not living together), should be given. Any other information necessary to identify or locate the depositor should be noted.

..............................191... To The Manager. The......................................BANK

Dear Sir:

You have a deposit account standing in the name of "..........

..........................................or either of them." We authorize you to pay and charge against said account all sums evidenced by checks on your branch or other vouchers signed by......

.........................................................or either of them, and we confirm the verbal instructions to this effect already given to you, and all acts done by you in pursuance thereof.

Yours truly,

Figure 30

Joint Account

Husband's Authorization To Open Bank Account

For use in Quebec

To the Manager of

The.....................................BANK

I hereby authorize my wife ....................................

to open an account in her own name with the.......................

Bank; to deposit or indorse for deposit to the credit of such account, money, checks, drafts or other negotiable instruments; to receive deposit receipts and surrender the same; to draw checks upon the said account and to withdraw therefrom the whole or any part of any money standing to her credit in such account, all upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between my said wife and the said Bank; and generally subject to terms of Art. 181, C. C, to perform all acts of administration with regard to said account. And I hereby agree to hold the said Bank harmless in respect of all transactions between my said wife and the said Bank done or entered into in pursuance of the foregoing authorization.

.............................191...

Figure 31

When opening such an account it is advisable in every instance to obtain the husband's authorization to withdraw money (Figure 31), as without this she would be restricted to withdraw an amount not exceeding $500 in all. A separate authorization on each withdrawal would be satisfactory, but this is not always convenient.

In the Province of Quebec no married woman can enter into a contract, sign or indorse a note, or bind herself in any way for the benefit of her husband. Therefore notes signed or indorsed by married women should be refused.

The law in this respect, however, is not so strict in the other provinces, but recently, by a judgment of the Supreme Court, confirmed by the Privy Council, it was decided that a married woman's guarantee or indorsement for her husband is void unless she signs independently (Stuart versus Bank of Montreal).

Therefore in these latter provinces if it is found expedient or necessary to have a wife join in a guarantee or indorsement on her husband's behalf, care must be taken to see that she has had the advice of her friends, of whom her husband is not to be one, and of a lawyer other than her husband's legal adviser, with a declaration from the latter that she has been so advised.

8. Waiver And Authority To Charge Back

An authority (see Figure 32) to charge back returned bills, notes, etc., should be taken from every customer whose account is an active one. In every case of

The Manager

The..........................BANK

Dear Sir:

In consideration of your lending money to the undersigned or discounting for or taking on deposit or for collection or otherwise from the undersigned bills of exchange, promissory notes, checks or other securities payable at points at which there is no branch of a chartered bank of Canada, you are hereby authorized to forward the same for collection to any National Bank, State Bank, private banker or private firm, and the undersigned hereby undertakes to keep you fully indemnified against any loss arising from the default or failure of any such bank, private banker or private firm to account to you for the said bills of exchange, promissory notes, checks or other securities so forwarded or for any sum or sums collected on account thereof.

The undersigned hereby waives every presentment, notice of dishonor and protest of all bills of exchange, promissory notes and checks now or hereafter drawn, made or indorsed by the undersigned, and now or hereafter deposited with or delivered to you for collection or discount or as security or otherwise. The undersigned, to avoid expense, requests you not to protest such bills of exchange, promissory notes and checks, and agrees not to hold you or your agents liable for not presenting or protesting or giving notice of dishonor of the same and to become and remain as fully liable to you upon and for said bills of exchange, promissory notes and checks as if its presentment, protest and notice hereby waived were duly made and given.

The undersigned hereby authorizes you to debit the account of the undersigned with you with the amount of any bill of exchange, promissory note or check payable at your office and which may be now or hereafter drawn, made or accepted by the undersigned, and with the amount of any bill of exchange, promissory note or check which having been previously credited to the said account is returned to the Bank unpaid, and with all such charges and expenses as the Bank shall have properly incurred in connection therewith, and the undersigned agrees to repay to the Bank the amount so debited to the account of the undersigned.

The above shall bind the successors and assigns of the undersigned.

Dated at......................the........................day of

..........................19...

Figure 32. Waiver of Protest charging a customer's account with a returned or dishonored bill, note or check, the ledger-keeper should immediately notify the customer by mail of the debit. A special form of advice is usually used for this purpose, which is written in duplicate, the original being mailed to the customer and a carbon copy used as a voucher to be charged to the account.

Dishonored bills, acceptances and the like charged to an account should not be given up until the customer's check has been received therefor or the account verified and the usual receipt for checks and vouchers received.

If there are not sufficient funds in an account to retire such items they should be held in the overdue file until provided for.