Is the gift of a policy of assurance in aiticulo
mortis, a gift good in law? The question has been raised on a trial in the Court of Queen's Bench. One John Amiss was about to be married to a Miss Floyd, with whom he had been living. She died on the day fixed for her wedding, but before her death she presented her intended husband with two watches, some jewels, and a policy of assurance for 1000/. The relatives of the woman brought an action to recover the pro- perty; it was shown that they were really given to John Amiss, but the counsel for the plaintiffs objected that a policy of assurance had never been passed as a dottatio in artieulo mortis, and Mr. Justice Blackburn reserved this curious point. The Judge Ordinary of the Divorce Court has delivered judgment in the case of Bevan (falsely called Ai'Mahon) versus M`Malion. It may be remembered that a Miss Margaret Lea Bevan, of Liverpool, the daughter of a surgeon, being crossed in love, hastily contracted to marry one M`Mahon, an omnibus conductor, and did marry him by special license, bat parted from him immediately after the ceremony. She repented of her folly at leisure, and petitioned the court to de- clare the marriage null, on the ground that the license had been obtained by fraudulent misrepresentation. The fraud charged was this : Mlialion omitted the name of "Lea" from the affidavit de- scrribing, the lady, and falsely stated her place of residence. As the respondent did not respond, the court directed the Queen's Proctor to instruct counsel to argue the case, exercising this power for the first time. But the opinion of Sir Cresswell Cresswell, intimated be fore he heard counsel, remained unchanged, and he decided that the misdescription did not invalidate the marriage, because the require- ments of the statute had been complied with, and because it was clear that the name Margaret Bevan did represent the lady, the license was granted for her, and obtained by her authority. The petition was, therefore, rejected.
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