Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/210

193 I N V I N V is to be allotted to the wife of the intestate, the residue " to be distributed equally to any of the next of kindred of the intestate who are equal in degree and those who legally represent them." By 7 there shall "be no representation admitted among collaterals after brothers and sisters chil dren; and in case there be no wife, then all the said estate to be distributed equally to and among the children ; and in case there be no child, then to the next of kindred in equal degree of or unto the intestate and their legal representa tives as aforesaid, and in no other manner whatsoever." For the protection of creditors it is enacted that there shall be no distribution till a full year after the intestate s death, and if any debts should be discovered after distribution, the persons sharing the estate shall refund the amount of the same ratably. Finally, by 4 it is provided that nothing in the Act shall prejudice the customs of London, York, and other places having customable rules of succes sion ; but these have been since abolished. With reference to the above rules the following points may be observed : (1) The husband s absolute right to administer his wife s estate is not affected by the Act. This was made clear by a later Act of the same reign (29 Charles II. c. 3). Administration is now granted to the representatives of the husband, where he has died without taking out administration to his wife, unless it can be shown that the wife s next of kin are beneficially interested. (2) The widow, in the event of there being no children or next of kin, takes only her half. The other half goes to the crown. (3) The child or chil dren take equally two-thirds if the widow be alive, and the whole if she be dead. If the children of the intestate be all dead, the grandchildren will take equally amongst themselves as next of kin ; if there be neither child nor grandchild alive the great-grandchildren would likewise take equally as a class (per capita]. But if some of the children be alive, some dead leaving issue, the children of a deceased child take their father s share (per stirpes}. Thus, for example, the ten children of a deceased son would only take between them their father s share if any brother or sister of their father were alive ; if not, they would share equally with the other grandchildren. (4) Ths next of kin must be ascertained according to the rules of consanguinity, which are the same in English as in the civil law. Degree is calculated from the intestate, through the common ancestor if any, to the kindred. Thus from son to father is one degree, to grandfather two degrees, to brother two degrees, to uncle three degrees, and so on. The statute ordains distribution to be made " to the next of kindred in equal degrees pro suo cuiqiie jure, according to the laws in such cases and the rules and limitations hereafter set down." Equality in degree is therefore not in all cases accompanied by equality in rights of succession. Neglecting the cases of wife and children already noticed, the father excludes all other next of kin. So would a mother, in default of a father surviving, but the Act 1 James II. c. 17 enacted that in such a case the brothers and sisters of the intestate should share equally with the mother. The language both of this and of the principal statute is very inapt, and has given rise to complicated questions of interpretation. In the absence of brothers or sisters arid their representatives, the mother in the case supposed would take the whole. Mothers-in-law and stepmothers are not within the rules of consanguinity. As between a brother and a grandfather who are both in the second degree, preference is given to the brother ; but a grandfather, being in the second degree, will exclude an uncle, who is in the third. An uncle and a nephew, both being in the third degree, take together. Brothers or sisters of the half blood take equally with brothers and sisters of the whole blood. The rule which prohibits representations after brothers and sisters children would, in a case where the next of kin were uncles or nephews, wholly exclude the children of a deceased uncle or nephew. Also, as between the son of a brother and the grandson of a brother, the latter would not be admitted by representa tion. Where a brother and the children of a deceased brother are the next of kin, they will take per stirpes, i.e., the brother will take one half, and the children of the other brother will take the other half between them. When the next of kin are all children of the deceased brothers or sisters, they will take equally per capita. Subject to these modifications, the personal estate will be divided equally among the next of kin of equal degree, e.g., great-grand fathers would share with uncles or aunts, as being in the third degree. Failing next of kin, under these rules, the estate goes to the crown as ultimus li&res, a result which is more likely to happen in the case of illegitimate persons than in any other. Personal or movable property takes its legal character from the domicile of the owner, and the distribution of an intestate s goods is therefore regulated by the law of the country in which the intestate was domiciled. A domiciled Scotchman, for example, dies intestate in England, leaving personal property in England; the administrator appointed by the court of probate will be bound to distribute the estate according to the Scotch rules of succession. In the law of Scotland the free movable estate of the intestate is divided amongst the nearest of kin, the full blood excluding the half blood, and neither mother normaternal relations being originally admitted. The heir of the heritable property if one of the next of kin must collate with the next of kin if he wishes to share in the movables. Proximity of kin is reckoned in the same order as in the case of inheritance. The Intestate Movable Succession Act, 3855, among other changes, allows the issue of a predeceasing next of kin to come in the place of their parent in succession to an intestate, gives the father of an intestate dying without issue one- half of the movable estate in preference to brothers and sisters, and to the mother if the father be dead a similar preference to the extent of one-third, and admits brothers and sisters uterine in the absence of brothers and sisters german or consanguinean. In the United States the English Statute of Distribution has been taken as the basis of the law for the distribution of personal property in intestacy, and its principles have been applied to real property also. " In a majority of the States the descent of real and personal property is to the same persons and in the same pro portions, and the regulation is the same in substance as the English Statute of Distribution. In Georgia the real and personal estate of the intestate is considered as altogether of the same nature and upon the same footing. . . . The English Statute of Distribu tion, being founded on justice and on the wisdom of ages, was well selected as the most suitable and judicious basis on which to establish our American law of descent and distribution." See INHERITANCE. (E. E.) INVERAKAY, a royal, parliamentary, and municipal burgh of Scotland, the county town of Argyllshire, is situated at the lower end of a small bay, where the river Aray falls into the north-western waters of Loch Fyne, 40 miles north-west of Glasgow. The town is small, consist ing of one street running east and west, and a row r of houses facing the bay. The county buildings and court house are handsome edifices. Near the church stands a small obelisk in memory of certain members of the clan Campbell who were executed on the spot in 1G85 for preaching against Popery. The ancient market-cross, supposed to have been brought from lona, is a fine speci men of the Scottish sculptured stones. The chief industry of Inveraray is the herring-fishery, the herring of Loch Fyne being celebrated for their excellence. To the fishing " district " of Inveraray there belonged in 1879 690 boats, 1647 fishermen and boys, and fishing-gear to the value of <3!, 592. In the district, or in boats fishing off its coast, 33,837 barrels of herring and 86 cwt. of cod and ling were cured in 1879. The town originally stood on the north side of the bay, clustering round the ancient baronial hold, attributed to Colin the Singular, who flourished