THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 67

Annuities granted under this Act not assignable except in cases
of bankruptcy.
29. No right, title, interest, or benefit in or to any
Annuity which shall be purchased under these Regu-
lations shall be assignable by the original proprietor
thereof, so as to enable the assignee to receive the
same during the lifetime of the said proprietor,
except in the case of the bankruptcy of an individual
proprietor, when the same shall become the property
of his trustee for the benefit of his creditors; and in
case of such bankruptcy the said Commissioner shall
re-purchase such Annuity, according to the value
thereof, to be computed by the tables in accordance
with which the said Annuity was originally purchased,
and the receipt of the trustee shall be a sufficient
discharge to the said Commissioner, who shall forth-
with cancel the said Annuity.

Persons contracting for Payment of Sums of Money at Death,
may commute the same into an Annuity payable after
death to nominees.
30. If any person having contracted for the pay-
ment of a sum of money on death in the manner
hereinbefore provided, shall at any time, in writing,
in a form approved of by the said Commissioner, and
deposited with him during the life of such person,
direct that the sum payable at his death be commuted
for an Annuity for life, to commence at his death
and to be paid to any person nominated in the said
writing, such commutation shall take effect when
approved of by the said Commissioner, and the person
so nominated shall be entitled to such Life Annuity
as shall be the equivalent to such sum of money, so
payable after death as aforesaid, such Annuity to
commence and take effect on and from the 6th day
of January, and the 6th day of July, as the case may
be, next immediately following the death of the party
nominating, and be payable and paid at the next
following half-yearly period.

Parties unable to keep up annual payments, may have an
Annuity granted in lieu of having money returned.
31. Where a party who shall have contracted for
the purchase of a deferred Life Annuity by annual
payments shall, after having made one or more of
such payments, be unable to pay the residue thereof,
the said Commissioner may, if he think fit, at the
request of the party beneficially interested in such
Annuity, grant to such party a Life Annuity im-
mediate or deferred, equivalent to the amount of
the several payments so made by him, instead of
returning the amount of such payments in money.

Power to convert deferred into immediate Annuity.
32. Where a party shall contract by payment in
one sum for a deferred Life Annuity, the said Com-
missioner may, if he thinks fit, at the request of the
party, grant an immediate Life Annuity in place and
instead of the deferred Life Annuity, which shall
forthwith be cancelled.

GENERAL REGULATIONS.

Commissioner to pay by Warrants. Claims for payment to be
supported by proper vouchers.
33. The payments which shall become due from
time to time under the contracts into which the said
Commissioner shall enter shall be made by warrants,
which warrants shall be issued from the office of the
said Commissioner in Wellington, to the proprietors
of such Annuities, and shall be payable at such of
the offices appointed for the purpose as the said
proprietors shall select. The Postmasters of the
offices at which the warrants are made payable shall
be advised from the office of the said Commissioner
in Wellington of all warrants made payable at their
offices, and shall not pay any warrant unless so
advised, and unless the proprietor of the Annuity
shall present the warrant in person, sign the receipt
at the foot of the said warrant in the presence of the
paying officer, and produce a certificate declaring the
said proprietor to be alive at the date of the warrant,
and signed by a Justice of the Peace, or by a Minister
of any denomination, or by a legally qualified Medi-
cal Practitioner, or by a Postmaster, or any other
officer not being the paying officer of the Postmaster-
General's Department. And if by reason of bodily
infirmity the proprietor of the Annuity shall be
unable to present the warrant at the office appointed
for the payment, then an officer of the Postal Depart-
ment shall carry the amount of the warrant to the
residence of such proprietor, obtain from him the
requisite Life Certificate, pay him the amount of the
warrant, and take the signature of the proprietor on
the receipt at the foot of the warrant. The war-
rants when paid and receipted shall be transmitted,
together with the corresponding Life Certificates, to
the office of the said Commissioner in Wellington.

Certificates of birth to be provided at the expense of the
Proposer, but not the cost of the Commissioner's inquiries
nor medical fee.
34. Persons proposing to insure their lives under
these Regulations, shall provide at their own cost such
certificates of birth or baptism, or other evidence of
age, as shall be required from them, but shall not
be required to pay any fee or fees for medical exami-
nation, or to pay the cost of any inquiry which the
said Commissioner may think fit to make with regard
to their health, habits, age, and occupation, or to pay
any fee or fees for the issue of any contracts which
may be made in accordance with their proposals, or
to pay any postage for the transmission of their pro-
posals, or for the transmission of any correspondence
arising out of such proposals between them and the
said Commissioner.

Proposed Annuitants to provide, at their cost, certificates of
birth, and pay a fee if required.
36. Persons proposing to purchase immediate or
deferred Annuities, shall provide at their own cost
such certificates of birth or baptism, or other evidence
of age, as shall be required of them, and, inasmuch
as the Premiums fixed by the Tables framed for the
grant of such Annuities do not include any provision
for costs and charges, shall, if the said Commissioner
think fit, be required to pay, at the time of purchase,
a fee of one shilling for every pound of Annuity
purchased.

Life Annuities free from taxes, &c.
37. Life Annuities purchased under these Regula-
tions shall be free from all taxes, charges, or im-
positions whatever, and all such Annuities shall be
deemed personal estate. No stamp duty whatever
shall be paid or payable in respect of any instrument
whatsoever respecting the payment of money for the
purchase of an Annuity or sum payable at death or
otherwise under "The Government Annuities Act,
1869," or any power of attorney authorizing the
receipt or any receipt for the payment of any such
Annuity or any part thereof, or for the payment of
any sum of money payable at death or otherwise.

In cases of dispute.
39. If any dispute shall arise between the said
Commissioner and any person who shall have con-
tracted for any Annuity or payment under the above
Act, or any executor, administrator, next of
kin, or assignee of such person, or any person
claiming to be such executor, administrator, next of
kin, or assignee, then in every such case the matter so
in dispute shall be referred to the arbitration of two
indifferent persons, one to be chosen and appointed
by the said Commissioner, and the other by the party
with whom the dispute arose; and in case the
arbitrators so appointed shall not agree, then such
matter in dispute shall be referred in writing to an