Baker Street Irregulars discussion

On Reddit someone asked an interesting question - why Effie Munro gives over her property to her husband - property probably meaning money, not "real" property. Then she has to go ask him for money when she wants to bring Lucy to England.
She had to know that eventually she was going to want to bring Lucy to England, so why lose control of her money? This was after the Women's Property Act that allowed women to keep their money and property after marriage, so why does she do something that causes the problem?
Of course, if she didn't, she wouldn't have to ask her husband for money which raised his suspicions and started off the case.

From my understanding, her husband was in banking, and she probably gave him her money as a sign of trust. Also, I think she maintained an allowance and might have over-calculated the amount of the trip, so she had to ask him for extra. I haven't read this story in a while though, so Im not sure and would be interested if anyone else could provide insight into the matter.

In that time period in the UK I think it was probably just considered normal that women handed all such matters to their husbands when they married. Men (as the head of the household was usually a man) automatically took control of such things. A widow could take over those controls when the Married Women's Property Act became law in 1870, until then women were the property of their husbands.