Rights of married couples in tort

[TimmyBill]

The married women’s property act while retaining certain conditions accepted an exception to the rule that a wife could sue her husband for the protection of her personal property, as if she was an unmarried woman. But this rule did not apply to the husband and he could not sue her wife. The law reforms initiated later on have abolished the above rule and have given equal status to both wife and husband to sue each other as if they were not married to each other. However the law courts have been given the discretion to stay the proceedings to prevent them from being used as a forum for trivial disputes without any chance of substantial benefit to both the parties.

The marital status of people professing the various religions is regulated by their personal laws and not by the common law. But in a secular country like the U.S, only the common law applies irrespective of the religious affiliations of the people to the dispute. Marriage under personal laws does not affect the capacities of parties for suing or for being sued, nor does it confer any protection to any of the spouses for any tortious act committed by one against the other.

Even if there was any anomaly in the law similar to that in the common law, it could not survive after the coming into force of the newly introduced amendments. The constitution guarantees equality before the law and equal protection to every person. It is a guarantee against arbitrariness and unreasonableness. It also prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. From this, it is clear that marriage does not affect the rights and liabilities of a wife and husband to sue and be sued in respect of any tort committed by either of them against the other.

The wife can sue the husband for any tort committed by him against her and the husband can sue the wife for any tort committed by her against him. The wife can sue another person for tort committed by that person against her. The texans for public justice (TPJ), a renowned watchdog campaigned for considerable lawsuit reforms in Texas. This watchdog consistently highlighted the vast changes in the present society and the obsolete nature of the laws enacted decades ago.

[cowdemon]

Thanks