BY JOHN WILLARD, LL.D., LATE ONE OF THE JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, ON THE LAW OF EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS AND GUARDIANS. SECOND EDITION. REVISED AND IMPROVED BY A PROMINENT MEMBER OF THE ALBAny Bar. ALBANY: WILLIAM GOULD, JR., & COMPANY, LAW PUBLISHERS, No. 68 STATE STREET. 1885. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, BY WILLIAM GOULD, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Northern District of New York. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, BY WILLIAM GOULD, JR., & COMPANY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. WHE HEN the first edition of this work appeared in 1861 it was at once accorded a flattering recognition by the members of the legal profession. The LAW OF REAL PROPERTY AND CONVEYANCING, always intricate and perplexing, had been rendered still more so by recent statutory legislation. The thorough revision and reform of the law thereby attained, and the many radical changes effected, naturally resulted in making the law unsettled, and, until the numerous statutory changes had been judicially interpreted, of making it uncertain. But at the time when this work was first given to the public, most of the changes in the LAW OF REAL ESTATE had been in operation for over thirty years. The decisions of the higher courts of this State numbered nearly one hundred volumes of reports, and contained exhaustive discussions of the new questions presented. The original plan of this work then was to bring those portions of the common law remaining unrepealed, the existing statutory changes and the decisions thereunder, into one harmonious whole, and so present to the reader a lucid exposition of the existing law in as brief and concise a manner as the importance of the subject allowed. That the author succeeded in his general design is evidenced by the high appreciation with which his work has so long been regarded. But aside from the natural growth of the law, occasioned by the constantly increasing wants of civilized communities, the legislative enactments of recent years have been so numerous that many important modifications and changes have been made. Accordingly, it is thought necessary to publish a further edition of this work, which should correct the errors or imperfections of the former edition, and, discarding those portions rendered obsolete by the statutory amendments, present the existing law in a clear and concise manner. This edition does not differ from the one which precedes it in the order and numbering of the pages or in its general arrangement. Nor does it omit anything of importance, or which is thought might be of benefit to the profession in searching or tracing the title to real property acquired before the later changes were effected. But in other respects it is essentially new. A great part of it is rewritten or otherwise compressed into briefer forms of expression. Every case has been carefully compared anew with the original report, and the correctness of the citation ascertained. A number of new cases have been added, and the original text elaborated by the doctrine found therein. Though as to those questions about which there is a conflict of judicial opinion, and those which have not as yet been thoroughly well settled, it is sought to cite all the cases involved, still it has been the object throughout this revision to avoid as much as possible the citing of large numbers of cases, which is apt to be confusing, but rather to cite only the leading cases bearing directly upon the point in question. The forms contained in the appendix will be found especially invaluable to the conveyancer. Though not designed to meet every contingency which may occur, yet it will be found that they are adapted to the ordinary wants of the practitioner. These forms have been so altered and modified that they fully meet the present requirements of the law, and subjoined to each form will be found the adjudged cases from which they are taken, or in which their use has been sanctioned. Trusting that the time and labor expended in revising this work has not been in vain, and that the profession will find its usefulness increased, this work is committed to the press. ALBANY, October 15, 1885. |