22                                 LAWS OF MARYLAND                           [CH. 9

[It is the intent of Sections 4, 5 and 6 that a husband may be liable
for the support of a wife while an inmate of any such institution,
a wife for a husband, a father or mother, or both for a son or
daughter, and a son or daughter, or both, for a father or mother.]

(c)  It is the intent of Sections U, 5 and 6 that a husband may be
liable for the support of a wife while she is an inmate of any such
institution; a wife, for a husband; a father or mother, or both, for a
son or daughter; and a son or daughter, or both, for a father or
mother.

(d)  In case the property or estate, or any property right, of any
person committed to any of the said institutions as aforesaid is or are
sufficient for his or her maintenance or support, in whole or in part,
while in such institution, then the Department of Mental Hygiene
[County Commissioners or the Department of Welfare of Baltimore
City, as the case may be,] shall have power to institute and prosecute
all proper proceedings, to subject the same thereto, and all pay-
ments made as a result of such proceedings shall be accounted for
and paid as hereinbefore provided.

(e)  Upon the death of any person committed to any of the said
institutions as aforesaid, [the County Commissioners or the Depart-
ment of Welfare of Baltimore City, as the case may be,] the Depart-
ment of Mental Hygiene shall be entitled to make claim against the
estate of any such person for his or her maintenance and support
while in such institution, or for the balance due therefor if part has
been paid. Such claim shall constitute a preferred claim against the
estate of any such person, and all claims arising hereunder against
the relatives and other persons legally chargeable with the mainte-
nance and support of such inmates, shall constitute preferred claims
against the estate of the person committed. All such claims may be
waived by the [County Commissioners or the Department of Welfare
of Baltimore City, as the case may be,] the Department of Mental
Hygiene, in [their] its discretion, if in [their] its judgment the en-
forcement of the same will result in hardship to others, dependent
upon those against whom such claims exist. All payments received
as a result of the enforcement of such claims shall be accounted for
and paid as hereinbefore provided.

(f)  References in this section and elsewhere in this Article to the
several counties or to boards of county commissioners or county
councils, in relation to payments for care in State institutions under
the jurisdiction of the State Department of Mental Hygiene, shall in
each instance be taken and construed to include also a reference to
the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

6. The [County Commissioners or the Department of Welfare, as
the case may be] Department of Mental Hygiene shall have full power
and authority, in the case of all persons heretofore committed to any
institution under the provisions of the preceding sections of this
Article and still confined therein, to exercise all of the powers con-
ferred upon [them] it by Section 5 of this Article with respect to
persons hereafter to be so committed, to the end that payment for
the future maintenance and support of such persons while in such
institutions may be required, made, collected, and accounted for as
in the case of persons hereafter to be committed under the pro-
visions of said Section 4. The Department is authorized and em-