Mental Treatment Act, 1945
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Assignment of pensions, etc. |
87.—(1) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to any payment (in this section referred to as the grant) payable under this Part of this Act by a mental hospital authority to any person (in this section referred to as the recipient), that is to say:— | |
(a) every assignment of and charge on the grant and every agreement to assign or charge the grant shall, except so far as it is made for the benefit of the family of the recipient, be void, and on the bankruptcy of the recipient the grant shall not be paid to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of the creditor, | ||
(b) where any public assistance is given in pursuance of the Public Assistance Act, 1939 (No. 27 of 1939), to the recipient or to anyone whom he is liable under that Act to maintain, the mental hospital authority may pay the whole or any part of the grant to the public assistance authority giving the assistance, and so much of the grant as is so paid may be applied in repayment of any sums expended on such assistance and, subject thereto, shall be paid or applied by the public assistance authority to or for the benefit of the recipient, | ||
(c) if the recipient neglects to maintain any person whom he is liable to maintain, the mental hospital authority may in their discretion pay or apply the whole or any part of the grant to or for the benefit of that person, | ||
(d) if the recipient appears to the mental hospital authority to be of unsound mind or otherwise incapacitated to act, they may pay so much of the grant as they think fit to the institution or person having the care of the recipient, and may pay the surplus (if any) or such part thereof as they think fit for or towards the maintenance and benefit of the wife or husband or dependent relatives of the recipient. | ||
(e) if the recipient or the officer or servant in respect of whom the grant is payable has died and a sum not exceeding one hundred pounds is due on account of the grant, probate or other proof of title of the personal representatives of the deceased may, if the mental hospital authority so think fit, be dispensed with and the sum may be paid or distributed to or among the persons appearing to the mental hospital authority to be beneficially entitled to the personal estate of the deceased, or to or among any one or more of those persons, or, in case of the illegitimacy of the deceased, to or among such persons as the mental hospital authority think fit, and the mental hospital authority and any of their officers making the payment shall be discharged from all liability as respects any such payment or distribution, | ||
(f) any sum payable to a minor on account of the grant may be paid either to the minor or to such person and on such conditions for the benefit of the minor as the mental hospital authority think fit, | ||
(g) where a payment is made to any person by the mental hospital authority in pursuance of this section, the receipt of that person shall be a good discharge for the sum paid. | ||
(2) A mental hospital authority may, with the consent of the Minister, make rules requiring declarations to be made for any purpose relating to payments made pursuant to this section and a person to whom any such payment may be made shall not be entitled to receive such payment if he fails to make any declaration which he is required by such rules to make. | ||
(3) Any person who makes a wilful misstatement of material fact in any declaration made under any rule made under this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months. |