RENT. DISTRESS.-ACTION, Queries. A landlord distrained upon his tenant for rent in arrear. The effects taken were scarcely sufficient to cover the costs. The landlord afterwards arrested the tenant for the amount remaining due: while the tenant was still in durance, the landlord again distrained. Does not the landlord's arresting the tenant preclude him from distraining? and will not trespass lie against him for such distress? A STUDENT. If A. takes a house of B. at Midsummer Day last, at the rent of 80%. per annum, payable quarterly, and pays B. the first quarter's rent in advance (being up to Michaelmas), and enters into an agreement to pay each quarter's rent in advance during the first year of tenancy; can B. distrain on the goods of A. at Michaelmas, for a quarter's rent, if not paid, there being really none due; or will B.'s remedy be by an action against A. for breach of contract? LEASE.-INSOLVENT. A. S. A. owes B. 601., and to secure it gives him possession of a house, on an agreement to restore possession on the 607. being paid. B. petitions to take the benefit of the Insolvent Act; and on the day of signing his petition, assigns the agreement to C., having some time before agreed to do so to secure a debt due from him to C. B. takes no notice in his schedule of A. or C.; but since his discharge, he has requested A. to pay the 607. to him. How can A. get possession of his house? he is willing to pay the 607. if he could be sure of not being called on to pay it again. Practice. COSTS OF LEASE.-SOLICITOR. S. In 1826, A. purchased a twenty-one years' lease of a house in the county of Middlesex, which was assigned to him by deed poll indorsed on the lease; the consideration was 951.; the lease was not registered. 4.'s solicitor prepared the assignment, for which he charged 137. (including 21. 88. 6d. for registering assignment, which has not been done). A. paid the bill in November, 1827. Can A. 463 Premises were conveyed to A. (the purchaser,) and B. (the dower trustee,) in fee, to uses to bar dower of A.'s wife. The consideration money was paid by A. A. mortgages for five hundred years without the concurrence or consent of B. B. died after the mortgage, but before A.: then A. died. Will this demise operate as a severance of the joint tenancy? Has B.'s heir any, and what interest, in the premises? And will it be requisite for B.'s heir to join in a conveyance to a purchaser? POWER. D. D. A. has an estate conveyed to him, to such uses, as to one part, as B. shall, by any deed, &c., to be executed in the presence of two witnesses, appoint: and as to the other part, to such uses as C. and D. shall in like manner appoint.. B. C. and D. contract to sell their several interests, and by deed appoint and convey the same to E., the purchaser, and a trustee nominated by him, with the usual limitations to bar dower: which trustee, and another person, are the attesting witnesses. Is this a legal execution of the power in question? And, if not, can the error now be rectified by getting the vendors to re-execute the deed in the presence of proper persons; or are a fresh instrument and stamps necessary? ENTAIL. H. N. 464 Queries.-Editor's Letter Box. DEVISE. PERPETUITY. 4. devises freeholds and leaseholds to B. (his daughter) for life, remainder to her children, if they attain 21; remainder to C. (his daughter) for life; remainder to her children, in default of issue of either daughter attaining 21; remainder to D. in fee. Are these limitations within the laws against perpetuity? A STUDENT. BEQUEST.-EXECUTOR'S LIABILITY. A. B., lately died, leaving all his personal estate to be equally divided between his nine children; and a question has arisen under the words of the will, as to the distribution of one of the shares, in consequence of one of the children having died, before that share became payable. An opinion of counsel has been taken, from which it appears that it would be dangerous for the executors to pay this share without the direction of the Court of Chancery. What would be the consequences to the executors, of this application, and the probable expense of a friendly suit in order to procure this direc tion ? COPYHOLD MORTGAGES. T. D. R. The Second Part of the Commentaries on the New Statutes, containing the Dower Act, the Inheritance Act, and the Fines and Recoveries Act, with the Forms rendered necessary by the alterations, is now published, price 28. The First and Second Parts may be had of the Publisher, price 58. The Third Part will be published at the end of this month. The report of the United Law Clerks' Society, shall be noticed at the first opportunity. Several deferred Papers, already acknowledged, we hope to insert next week. The Queries and Answers of H.; a Constant Reader; I. S.; Inquirer; Y. Z.; C.M. W.; W.J.; R. M. and Anon.; have been received. We have been much amused with the letter of "Anti-Humbug," but should not be justified in entertaining the dispute, which, of course, would not terminate with our correspondent's ingenious epistle. If it were inserted, we do not see what we could refuse, by way of retort, from the other party. The proposed Critique cannot be accepted. We must rely on our regular contributors only in that department. Our Sixth Volume will be completed the last Saturday in this month. A Title Page, Table of Contents, and Index, will be published with the first Number in November, without any extra charge. Vol. VI. The Legal Observer. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1833. No. CLXVIII. "Quod magis ad NOS Pertinet, et nescire malum est, agitamus." HORAT. CHANGES MADE IN THE LAW IN THE LAST SESSION OF PARLIAMENT, 1833. No. XI. THE INHERITANCE ACT. 3 & 4 W. 4, c. 106. MR. JUSTICE BLACKSTONE, who is universally admitted to be the ablest defender of the existing law, seems to allow that the present rules regulating the descent of real property might be altered with advantage; for whilst he ingeniously accounts, with some degree of favour, for the canons which exclude the half-blood and all lineal ances tors from inheriting, he points out many instances of hardship arising from an adherence to these rules, and appears to incline to the opinion that it would be desirable for the legislature to give relief by amending the law of descent in one or two instances." 2 Comm. 233. This desired amendment is effected by the present act, which is founded on the recommendation of the Real Property Commissioners; and we shall briefly state its provisions, and the alterations they effect in the present law. By the present law, a person to be enabled to transmit lands by descent, must have actual seisin of the lands in his lifetime, either by himself or his tenant for years, as seisina facit stipitem, and a bare right or title to enter is not sufficient. Co. Litt. 15 a, 15 b, 32a; 2 Bla. Com. 209. This rule is altered by the act; it being provided, that the expression "person last entitled to land," shall extend to the last a Printed 2 Monthly Record, p. 359 et seq. NO, CLXVIII. person who had a right thereto, whether he did or did not obtain the possession or receipt of the rents and profits thereof (§ 1). Another object of the act is to prevent the tracing descents further back than the circumstances of the case may require; it is therefore enacted, that in every case descents shall be traced from the purchaser; and the person last entitled to the land shall, for the purposes of this act, be considered to have been the purchaser thereof unless it shall be proved that he inherited the same, in which case the person from whom he inherited the same shall be considered to have been the purchaser unless it shall be proved that he inherited the same; and in like manner the last person from whom the land shall be proved to have been inherited shall in every case be considered to have been the purchaser, unless it shall be proved that he inherited the same (§ 2). By the present law, if a devise be made to the heir of the devisor and his heirs, the heir takes as heir, and not as devisee; or, in other words, by descent, and not by purchase. 1 Salk. 242; Prec. Cha. 222; 2 Ld. Raym. 829; Welby v. Welby, 2 Ves. & B. 190. This rule was attended with some inconveniences in practice, and is accordingly altered by the act; which provides, that when any land shall have been devised, by any testator who shall die after the 31st day of Dec. 1833, to the heir or to the person who shall be the heir of such testator, such heir shall be considered to have aoquired the land as a devisee, and not by descent; and when any land shall have been limited, by any assurance executed after the said 31st day of Dec. 1833, to the person or to the heirs of the person w 2 H 464 Queries.-Editor's Letter Box. DEVISE.PERPETUITY. 4. devises freeholds and leaseholds to B. (his daughter) for life, remainder to her children, if they attain 21; remainder to C. (his daughter) for life; remainder to her children, in default of issue of either daughter attaining 21; remainder to D. in fee. Are these limitations within the laws against perpetuity? Á STUDENT. BEQUEST.-EXECUTOR'S LIABILITY. A. B., lately died, leaving all his personal estate to be equally divided between his nine children; and a question has arisen under the words of the will, as to the distribution of one of the shares, in consequence of one of the children having died, before that share became payable. An opinion of counsel has been taken, from which it appears that it would be dangerous for the executors to pay this share without the direction of the Court of Chancery. What would be the consequences to the executors, of this application, and the probable expense of a friendly suit in order to procure this direc tion ? COPYHOLD MORTGAGES. T. D. R. The Second Part of the Commentaries on the New Statutes, containing the Dower Act, the Inheritance Act, and the Fines and Recoveries Act, with the Forms rendered necessary by the alterations, is now published, price 28. the Publisher, price 58. The Third Part will be published at the end of this month. The First and Second Parts may be had of The report of the United Law Clerks' Society, shall be noticed at the first opportunity. Several deferred Papers, already acknowledged, we hope to insert next week. The Queries and Answers of H.; a Constant Reader; I. S.; Inquirer; Y. Z.; C.M. W.; W.J.; R. M. and Anon. ; have been received. We have been much amused with the letter of "Anti-Humbug," but should not be justified in entertaining the dispute, which, of course, would not terminate with our correspondent's ingenious epistle. If it were inserted, we do not see what we could refuse, by way of retort, from the other party. The proposed Critique cannot be accepted. We must rely on our regular contributors only in that department. Our Sixth Volume will be completed the last Saturday in this month. A Title Page, Table of Contents, and Index, will be published with the first Number in November, without any extra charge. Vol. VI. The Legal Observer. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1833. No. CLXVIII. "Quod magis ad Nos HORAT. CHANGES MADE IN THE LAW IN THE LAST SESSION OF PARLIAMENT, 1833. No. XI. THE INHERITANCE ACT. 3 & 4 W. 4, c. 106. MR. JUSTICE BLACKSTONE, who is universally admitted to be the ablest defender of the existing law, seems to allow that the present rules regulating the descent of real property might be altered with advantage; for whilst he ingeniously accounts, with some degree of favour, for the canons which exclude the half-blood and all lineal ancestors from inheriting, he points out many instances of hardship arising from an adherence to these rules, and appears to incline to the opinion that it would be desirable for the legislature to give relief by amending the law of descent in one or two instances." 2 Comm. 233. This desired amendment is effected by the present act, which is founded on the recommendation of the Real Property Commissioners; and we shall briefly state its provisions, and the alterations they effect in the present law. By the present law, a person to be enabled to transmit lands by descent, must have actual seisin of the lands in his lifetime, either by himself or his tenant for years, as seisina facit stipitem, and a bare right or title to enter is not sufficient. Co. Litt. 15 a, 15 b, 32a; 2 Bla. Com. 209. This rule is altered by the act; it being provided, that the expression "person last entitled to land," shall extend to the last a Printed 2 Monthly Record, p. 359 et seq. NO, CLXVIII. person who had a right thereto, whether he did or did not obtain the possession or receipt of the rents and profits thereof (§ 1). Another object of the act is to prevent the tracing descents further back than the circumstances of the case may require; it is therefore enacted, that in every case descents shall be traced from the purchaser; and the person last entitled to the land shall, for the purposes of this act, be considered to have been the purchaser thereof unless it shall be proved that he inherited the same, in which case the person from whom he inherited the same shall be considered to have been the purchaser unless it shall be proved that he inherited the same; and in like manner the last person from whom the land shall be proved to have been inherited shall in every case be considered to have been the purchaser, unless it shall be proved that he inherited the same (§ 2). By the present law, if a devise be made to the heir of the devisor and his heirs, the heir takes as heir, and not as devisee; or, in other words, by descent, and not by purchase. 1 Salk. 242; Prec. Cha. 222; 2 Ld. Raym. 829; Welby v. Welby, 2 Ves. & B. 190. This rule was attended with some inconveniences in practice, and is accordingly altered by the act; which provides, that when any land shall have been devised, by any testator who shall die after the 31st day of Dec. 1833, to the heir or to the person who shall be the heir of such testator, such heir shall be considered to have aoquired the land as a devisee, and not by descent; and when any land shall have been limited, by any assurance executed after the said 31st day of Dec. 1833, to the person or to the heirs of the person who 2 H |