Feme Sole Trader Law and Legal Definition
Feme sole trader is a married woman who engages in business on her own account.
When any mariners or others are gone to sea, leaving their wives at shop keeping, or to work for their livelihood at any other trade, all such wives shall be deemed, adjudged and taken, and declared to be, as feme sole traders. [Cleaver v. Scheetz, 70 Pa. 496 (Pa. 1872)].
A wife seeking to be declared a feme sole trader must show:
a. that she and her husband have lived separate and apart for at least one year;
b. that all marital relations between them must have ceased for at least one year;
c. that her husband has not supported her, or contributed to her support, for at least one year; and
d. that the wife and children are maintained by the wife out of her estate, or by her working, or the joint efforts of the wife and children. [Arslanian v. Arslanian, 1974 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 461 (Pa. C.P. 1974)].
