At common law a married woman was incapable of conveying land and, as a rule, her contracts were not binding upon her. Statutes were, however, passed at various times conferring upon her the power to convey under certain conditions and to contract with regard to her separate property.

It is now provided in Ontario by the Married Woman's Conveyances Act, R.S.O. 1914, c. 150, S. 3, as follows (g) :

3. Subject to the provisions of The Land Titles Act, every married woman, being of the full age of twenty-one years, may execute a certificate of discharge of mortgage of land, and may also, by deed, convey her land, and convey, release, surrender, disclaim, or extinguish any interest therein, and release or extinguish any power vested in, or limited or reserved to her in regard to land, and bar or release her dower, and any right or inchoate right of aower in any land, and appoint an attorney for such purposes or any of them as fully and effectually as she could do, if she were a feme sole.

It is also provided by the Married Women's Property Act, R.S.O. 1914, c. 149, ss. 4, 5 and 7, as follows (h):

4.-(1) A married woman shall be capable of acquiring, holding, and disposing by will or otherwise, of any real or personal property as her separate property, in the same manner as if she were a feme sole, without the intervention of a trustee.

(e) Foley v. Canada Permanent Loan and Savings Co., 1883, 4 O.R. 38.

(f) Beam v. Beatty, 1902, 4 O.L.R. 554.

(g) Other sections of the statute contain provisions with regard to conveyances executed by married women under earlier statutes. For an account of these statutes, see Armour, Real Property, 2nd ed., pp. 319 ff. As to bar of dower, see chapter 18, Dower and Curtesy in Mortgaged Land, Sec. 176, and as to the execution of a discharge of mortgage by a married woman, see chapter 19, Discharge or Reconveyance, Sec. 187.

(h) Other sections of the statute contain provisions with regard to contracts made by married women under earlier statutes.

(2) A married woman shall be capable of entering into and rendering herself liable in respect of and to the extent of her separate property on any contract, and of suing and being sued, either in contract or in tort or otherwise, in all respects as if she were a feme sole, and her husband need not be joined with her as plaintiff or defendant, or be made a party to any action or other legal proceeding brought by or taken against her; and any damages or costs recovered by her in any such action or proceeding shall be her separate property; and any damages or costs recovered against her in any such action or proceeding shall be payable out of her separate property, and not otherwise.

5.- (1) Every contract entered into by a married woman on or after the 13th day of April, 1897, otherwise than as an agent:

(a) shall be deemed to he a contract entered into by her with respect to and to bind her separate property whether she was or was not in fact possessed of or entitled to any separate property at the time when she entered into such contract; (6) shall bind all separate property which she may at the time or thereafter possess or be entitled to; and (c) shall also be enforceable by process of law against all property which she may thereafter while discovert possess or be entitled to. (2) Nothing in this section shall render available to satisfy any liability or obligation arising out of such contract any separate property which she is restrained from anticipating.

7.- (1) Every married woman, whether married before or after the passing of this Act, shall have and hold as her separate property, and may dispose of as such, the wages, earnings, money and property gained or acquired by her in any employment, trade or occupation in which she is engaged or which she carries on and in which her husband has no proprietary interest, or gained or acquired by her by the exercise of any literary, artistic or scientific skill.

(2) Every woman married on or. after the first day of July, 1884, shall also be entitled to have and hold and to dispose of as her separate property all other real and personal property belonging to her at the time of marriage or acquired by or devolving upon her after marriage.

It is provided by the Land Titles Act, R.S.O. 1914, c. 126, s. 103, as follows:

103. A married woman shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed a feme sole and may execute without seal any bar of dower or other instrument required under this Act.

It appears to be settled that in the case of a mortgage made by a married woman to secure repayment of money loaned to her husband the onus of proving undue influence (i) is upon the married woman and that the mere fact that she has not had independent advice is not sufficient ground for setting aside the transaction (j).