mariti and right of administration of the husband, and on her death intestate, shall pass to her heirs and representatives in like manner as if her husband had been then dead; and (3) that where a wife succeeds to moveable property, or acquires right to it by donation, bequest, or any other means than by the exercise of her own industry, she is entitled to claim therefrom a reasonable provision for her support and maintenance, if not previously taken possession of by the husband or attached by his creditors. The third Act-viz., the Married Women's Property Act,() which came into operation on 1st January, 1878provides that the jus mariti and right of administration of the husband shall be excluded from wages and earnings of the wife gained by her in any employment, occupation, or trade followed by herself, and also from money or property acquired by her through the exercise of any literary, artistic, or scientific skill, all which, and all investments thereof, shall be deemed to be settled to her sole and separate use. The fourth Act-viz., The Married Women's Policies of Assurance Act,(m) which came into operation on 26th August, 1880-enables a wife to effect a policy of assurance on her own life or on the life of her husband, to be held by her exclusively of the jus mariti and right of administration of the husband, and to be assignable by her either inter vivos or mortis causa without the consent of her husband. The last of the said series of Acts is the Married Women's Property Act, 1881,(n) which mainly affects parties who have married since 18th July, 1881, and estates coming after that date to women married previously. This Act was passed to "further extend" the provisions of the third Act above referred to, and makes extensive alterations on the previous law, or rather it introduces, in the absence of antenuptial contract, rules which, without reference to the provisions touching the jus mariti and right of administration in the three Acts above referred to, practically vests in the wife as her separate estate all her own moveable estate, excepting that the husband's right of administration is only excluded as regards the income of such estate and the rents of heritable (1) 40 & 41 Vict. c. 29. (n) 44 & 45 Vict. c. 21. property vested in the wife. It provides that where the wife marries after the date of the Act, and the husband at the time of the marriage had his domicile in Scotland, her whole moveable or personal estate, whether acquired before or during the marriage, shall by operation of law be vested in her as her separate estate, and shall not be subject to the jus mariti; . . . but the wife shall not be entitled to assign the prospective income thereof, or, unless with the husband's consent, to dispose of such estate. In the case of marriages contracted before the date of the Act, the provisions of it shall not apply where the husband had previously by irrevocable deed made a reasonable provision for his wife in the event of her surviving him, and in other cases the Act shall not apply except that the jus mariti shall be excluded from all moveable estate which the wife may acquire after its date, and the right of administration shall be excluded from the income of such moveable estate, and from the rents of heritable property in Scotland belonging to the wife. In the case of marriages contracted before the passing of the Act the parties may come under its provisions by deed. (4.) Married men, who can only test on the share of their property called the dead's part.(0) (5.) Idiots-i.e., "such as cannot number twenty, or tell what age they are, or the like," cannot make a valid will.(p) Mad or lunatic persons cannot make a valid will, except, perhaps, during a lucid interval.(q) Mental imbecility, by reason of great age, or occasioned by drunkenness to such an extent as to affect reason or consciousness, may also incapacitate a person from making a will.(r) (6.) Interdicted persons-i.e., those who from weakness, facility, or profusion are liable to be imposed upon, and so have been placed under judicial or private voluntary restraint. But this restraint is confined to heritable property; a will is not defeated by it.(s) (7.) Persons under the undue influence of others, or in a dying The validity of deeds by such will depends on the state. (0) Bell's Prin. § 1592. (p) M'Laren, § 535. (q) M'Kellar, 6th Dec. 1861, 24 D. 144. (r) Bell's Prin. §§ 1523, 2103; M'Laren, § 539. (s) Bell's Prin. §§ 2123-28. degree of mental imbecility and other incapacitating circumstances.(t) 79. Intestacy: Total or Partial.-An intestacy is total where the deceased leaves the whole of his property undisposed of by will: partial where he leaves only a portion of it in that state(u). Intestate means the deceased person who dies in either of these conditions.(v) 80. When a Succession Opens and Vests.-A succession opens at the moment of natural death, at which time the character of the heir and next-of-kin becomes irrevocably fixed; except in the case of persons whose estates have been forfeited to the Crown on account of crime, or forfeited under an Entail, or where a nearer heir is in utero at the death of the predecessor, and is born alive.(w) Formerly questions of considerable nicety sometimes arose with regard to the estates of persons absent from the country or missing, where it was necessary, in order to ascertain whether a succession had devolved, or, when it devolved, to determine whether those persons were alive, or alive at a particular date; but by an Act which came into operation on 22nd August, 1881,() various limitations to the presumption of life have been established as regards all persons who have been absent from Scotland, or have disappeared for a number of years.(y) Briefly, that Act provides that, on application to the Court (1.) The presumption of life may be limited to seven years as regards income from either heritable or moveable estate. (2.) That the capital of moveable estate may be disposed of on the lapse of seven years from the date of the order as to income. (3.) That heritable estate may be disposed of on the lapse of thirteen years from date of order as to income from it. (4.) That the capital of moveable estate may be disposed of after fourteen years' absence, where no previous order made as to income. (t) Bell's Prin. §§ 11, 12, 2105; M'Laren, § 535 et seq. (u) Nelson and Others, 6th Feb. 1879. (v) 18 Vict. c. 23, § 9. (w) Bell's Prin. §§ 1639, 1642. (x) 44 & 45 Vict. c. 47. (y) The Act does not apply in the case of the disappearance of persons who had never been in Scotland (Rainham, 2nd Dec. 1881, 9 R. 207).. (5.) That heritable estate may be disposed of after twenty years absence, where no previous order made as to income.(2) (6.) That the claim of absent persons to either heritable or moveable estate, shall be absolutely barred on the lapse of thirteen years from date of order. (7.) That, "for the purposes of the Act, in all cases where a person has left Scotland, or has disappeared, and where no presumption arises from the fact that he died at any definite date, he shall be presumed to have died on the day which will complete a period of seven years from the time of his last being heard of, at or after such leaving or disappearance." Policies of assurance are exempted from the operation of the Act. In every case, it is only the person entitled to succeed to the absent person in the particular estate who can apply to the Court. The applicant must set forth all the facts, and be prepared to prove these facts. The legal conditions affecting the vesting of successions are, that the persons succeeding shall have been conceived at the opening of the succession and be born alive, be legitimate, (a) and be of uncorrupted blood. (b) As regards successions from the mother, under the Married Women's Property Act, 1881, it would seem that legitimacy is not a condition affecting her children. Formerly, aliens-i.e., persons born beyond the dominions of the Crown-could neither take nor hold any property in Scotland; but this restriction has now been removed,(c) without, however, qualifying an alien for any office, or for any municipal, parliamentary, or other franchise; neither can an alien be owner of a British ship. 81. Domicile Governs Law of Distribution (d).-Domicile is the residence or permanent home of a person. Moveable property is held in law to follow the person of the owner, and, on his death intestate, it falls to be distributed according to the () The proof required to support applications under Heads 4 and 5 is-(1) That the person whose succession is in question had lived up to the period at which he became entitled to the estate; and (2) that he has not since been heard of (Tawse, 15th! July, 1882; M'Gregor, 18th July, 1882, 19 S. L. R. 829). (a) See § 126. (b) Bell's Prin. § 1641. law of his permanent home, or where, in legal phrase, he "had his domicile" at the time of his death, (e) without any regard whatever to the place either of his birth or of his death, or the situation of his property at the time. Hence, although a person's moveable estate may, in whole or in part, be situated in Scotland, the succession to, and distribution of it fall to be regulated by the law of the country in which the deceased had his domicile,—a rule in conformity with the law and practice of all civilised nations.(ƒ) Where a difficulty arises as to the proper domicile, the court to which properly belongs the right of determining the question is that within whose jurisdiction the principal part of the personal estate is situated.(g) 82. How Domicile Acquired.-Domicile is acquired in either of three ways, viz. : 1. Domicile of Birth or Origin, being that which arises from a person's birth and connections (h); if born in wedlock, it is determined by the father's domicile at birth (i); should the father predecease, it follows that of the surviving mother, if not fraudulently changed (k); and, if illegitimate, it is that of the mother's.() A minor, but not a pupil, has the capacity to acquire a domicile for himself (m); but his domicile of birth-i.e., his father's domicile, as a general rule-remains so long as he continues to live with his father or to be supported by him.(n) 2. Domicile of Choice, being that where a man voluntarily takes up his residence in a country with the intention of making it his permanent home, or at least of remaining there until some event shall induce him to adopt some other permanent home. (o) To acquire a new domicile two things are necessary,-first, actual residence; and, secondly, an intention to make that residence a permanent home (p); thus, an emigrant does not lose his old domicile until he arrives at his new one. With regard to British subjects dying whilst resident abroad, and foreign subjects dying whilst resident in this country, by a |