t, shall be valid to the same extent as if the same
was done by the party owning the property. [Sec.3398.] A wife who is
abandoned by her husband without her fault, may pledge his credit for
necessaries, and if left in the management of his business may make all
contracts incident to such management. She may also sell exempt property
and apply the proceeds towards the support of the family before
absolutely forced to do so by the destitution of the family.

[Sidenote: Contracts and sales binding.]

All contracts, sales or incumbrances made by either husband or wife by
virtue of the power contemplated in the preceding section, shall be
binding on both, and during such absence or confinement, the person
acting under such power, may sue and be sued thereon, and for all acts
done, the property of both shall be liable. No suit or proceeding shall
abate or be in anywise affected by the return or release of the person
confined, but he or she may be permitted to prosecute or defend jointly
with the other. [Sec.3399.]

[Sidenote: Decree set aside.]

The husband or wife affected by the proceedings contemplated in the
preceding sections, may have the order or decree of the court set aside
or annulled, but the setting aside of such decree or order shall in
nowise affect any act done thereunder. [Sec.3400.]

[Sidenote: Attorney in fact.]

A husband or wife may constitute the other his or her attorney in fact,
to control and dispose of his or her property for their mutual benefit,
and may revoke the same to the same extent and manner as other persons.
[Sec.3401.] The fact of the marital relation does not, of itself, establish
the presumption that the husband is the agent of the wife, for the
transaction of business for her, but in order to bind her, he must be
expressly authorized to act as agent, or she must, after knowledge of
the act, expressly or impliedly ratify it. Such agency or ratification
may be established by circumstances, and the degree of evidence required
in such cases, is less than is necessary to establish an agency between
independent parties, or the ratification by the husband, of acts done by
the wife or his agent.

[Sidenote: Wages of wife.]

A wife may receive the wages of her personal labor and maintain an
action therefor in her own name, and hold the same in her own right; she
may prosecute and defend all actions at law or in equity for the
preservation and protection of her rights and property as if