Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 76A.djvu/782

–686– -686temporary exclusion of either party from the family dwelling or from the dwelling of the other, until the final determination of the action. § 274. Contracts Either spouse may enter into any engagement or transaction with the other, or with any other person, respecting property, which either might if unmarried; subject, in transactions between themselves, to the general rules which control the actions of persons occupying confidential relations with each other, as defined by chapters 161 and 163 of Title 7 on trusts. § 275. Legal relations; separation agreement A husband and wife may not, by a contract with each other, alter their legal relations, except as to property, and except that they may agree, in writing,' to an immediate separation, and may make provision for the support of either of them and of their children during the separation. ' § 276. Separation agreement; consideration The mutual consent of the parties is a sufficient consideration for a separation agreement pursuant to section 275 of this title. § 277. Methods of holding property A husband and wife may hold property by joint interests, by interests in common, or as community property. § 278. Separate property generally The following property, with the rents, issues and profits thereof, is the separate property of a spouse: (1) property owned by the spouse before marriage; and (2) property acquired by the spouse after marriage by gift, bequest, devise, or descent. The wife may convey her separate property without the consent of her husband. § 279. Damages for personal in juries as separate property All damages, special and general, awarded a married person in a civil action for personal injuries, are the separate property of that person. § 280. Community property; presumptions (a) Except as provided by sections 278 and 279 of this title, personal property, wherever situated, acquired after marriage by either husband or wife, or both, while residing in the Canal Zone, is community property; but whenever personal property, or an interest therein or encumbrance thereon, is acquired by a married woman by an instrument in writing, the presumption is that it is her separate property, and if acquired by her and another person, the presumption is that she takes the part acquired by her, as an interest in common, unless a different intention is expressed in the instrument; except that when personal property is acquired by husband and wife by an instrument in which they are described as husband and wife, unless a different intention is expressed in the instrument, the presumption is that the property is the community property of the husband and wife. (b) The presumptions provided for by subsection (a) of this section are conclusive in favor of a person dealing in good faith and for a valuable consideration with the married woman or her legal representatives or successors in interest, and regardless of a change in her marital status after acquisition of the property.
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