GENERAL RULES true. OF THE COMMON PLEAS. and residences of the commission ers, and the place or places of tak And where any provision has been agreed to be made, the deponent shall state that the same has been made by deed or writing, or if not actually made before, that the terms of the intended provision have been reduced into writing, which deed or writing he verily believes has been produced to the said (Judge, Master, or) commissioners. ing the acknowledgments. And that the deponent had inquired of the person acknowledging (or if more than one, of each of them), whether she intended to give up her interest in the estate to be passed; her answer to such inquiry; and where she declared her intention to be that she should give up her interest without receiving any provision in lieu thereof, the deponent must state that he has no reason to doubt the truth of such declaration, and that he believes the same to be true. Where a provision has been agreed upon, the deponent shall state that the same is by deed or writing; or if not then made, that the terms of such agreement have been reduced to writing, adding his belief that such deed or writing has been produced to the judge, Master, or commissioners by whom the acknowledgment has been received. The affidavit must set forth the parish or parishes, place or places, and county or counties, in which the premises wherein the wife shall appear to 5. And it is hereby further ordered, That the affidavit shall state the parish or several parishes, or place or several places, and the county or counties, in which the several premises wherein any such married woman shall appear to be interested shall by deed be described to be situate. be interested is "by deed described to be situate.' This clause is rendered obscure by something more than an unhappy confusion of tenses, which in fact pervades all the orders. Stripped of expletives, the meaning seems to be that the affidavit shall specify the place (distinguishing it by parish and county) in which the premises in question are by the deed in question described to be situate. But it has not been the practice to require that any locality should be stated unless stated in the deed. It frequently happens that the description in the deed is very general, as in the case of the residuary estate of a testator, in which case the premises are described in the affidavit merely in the words of the deed for the purpose of showing what is actually passed by it. Annexed form of affidavit to be followed, subject to 6. And it is hereby further ordered, That the affidavit shall be in the form hereunto annexed, subject to such variations as the circumstances of the case shall render necessary; or such affidavit may be made, where it is found convenient, by one of the said commissioners, make the affidavit. with such variation in the form thereof as shall be necessary in that proper variations. When convenient, one of the commissioners may The certificates and affidavits to be lodged with within a month; behalf. 7. And it is hereby further ordered, That the certificates and affidavits verifying the same shall within one month from the making the proper officer the acknowledgment be delivered to the proper officer appointed under the said act; and that the officer shall not after that time receive the same without the direction of the Court or a judge. that is to say, be it observed, a lunar month. An order to file may be obtained as of course at any time within six months. But after the expiration of six months, it is the practice to require an affidavit explanatory of the circumstances. Fees and charges. 8. And it is hereby further ordered, That the fees or charges to be paid for the copies to be delivered by the clerks of the peace, or their deputies, or by the officer of the said Court, and for taking acknowledgments (a) of deeds, and for examining married women, and for the proceedings, matters, and things required by the said act to be had, done, and executed, for completing and giving effect to such acknowledgments and examinations, shall be as follows: (a) See Rules of Trinity Term, 1834, infra, p. 45. 1. To a Judge or Master for taking the acknowledgment of 3. To each commissioner, when required to go more than one mile, but not exceeding three miles, besides his reasonable travelling expenses 4. To each commissioner, where the distance required shall exceed three miles, besides his reasonable travelling expenses 5. To the clerk of the peace, or his deputy, for every search 6. To the same, for every copy of a list of commissioners, provided such list shall not exceed the number of one hundred names 7. To the same, for every further complete number of fifty names, an additional 8. To the officer, for every search 9. To the same, for every official copy of the certificate £ s. d. GENERAL RULES 1 6 8 1 6 8 1 1 0 2 20 0 5 0 0 2 6 11. To the same, for every further complete number of fifty names, an additional . 12. To the same, for preparing every special commission (b), including a fee of 5s. to the clerk of the chief justice or other judge, for the fiat 13. To the same, for examining the certificate and affidavit, and filing and indexing the same, as required by the said Act of the 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 74. 0 15 0 . 0 5 0 And it is hereby further ordered, That the fees and charges to be paid for the entries of deeds, required by the said act to be entered on the court-rolls of manors, and for the indorsements thereon, and for taking the consents of the protectors of settlements of land (b) This is the only mention to be found in the Rules of Court respecting the duty imposed on the officer of preparing special commissions. OF THE COMMON PLEAS. OF THE COMMON PLEAS. GENERAL RULES held by copy of court-roll, where such consents shall not be given by deed, and for taking surrenders, by which dispositions shall be made under the said act by tenants in tail of lands held by copy of courtroll, and for entries of such surrenders, or the memorandums thereof, on the court-rolls, shall be as follows: For the indorsements on the deed of the memorandum of £ s. d. 0 10 0 006 0 13 4 For the entries on the court-rolls of deeds, and the indorse- .00 6 N. C. TINDAL. J. A. PARKE. This is to be omitted when acknowledgment J. B. BOSANQUET. FORM OF AFFIDAVIT (c) verifying the Certificate of Acknowledgment taken in pursuance of the Act of Parliament, to be made by some practising attorney or solicitor, and to be sworn before a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, or a commissioner appointed for taking affidavits in the said Court. Gentleman, one of the attornies maketh oath and saith, that he in the certificate hereunto annexed men [or, "solicitors "] of the Court of the wife of , knows (c) Annexed to the above General Rules and required to be followed. See General Rule, No. 6, supra, Appendix, p. 42. GENERAL RULES OF THE COMMON PLEAS. or master. of the said commissioners is [or, "the said A. B. or the said C. D., one of the said commissioners, is not"] in any manner interested in the transaction giving occasion for such acknowledgment, or concerned therein as attorney, solicitor, or agent, or as clerk to any attorney, taken by a judge solicitor, or agent, so interested or concerned."] And this deponent further saith, that previous to the said [the married woman] making the said acknowledgment, he this deponent inquired of the said [the married woman], (or, if more than one," of each of them the said and [the married women]"), whether she intended to give up her interest in the estates in respect of which such acknowledgment was taken without having any provision made for her in lieu of or in return for or in consequence of her so giving up her interest in such estates, and that in answer to such inquiry the said [the married woman] declared that she did intend to give up her interest in the said estates without having any provision made for her in lieu of or in return for or in consequence of her so giving up such her interest; of which declaration of the said - [the married woman] this deponent has no reason to doubt the truth, and verily believes the same to be true; [or, " declared that a provision was to be made for her in consequence of her giving up such her interest in the said estates"]. And this deponent lastly saith, that before her acknowledgment was so taken, he was satisfied, and does now verily believe, that such provision has been made by deed or writing, or that the terms thereof have been reduced into writing, and that such deed or writing has been produced to the said Judge, Master, or commissioners. And lastly, this deponent saith, that it appears by the deed acknowledged by the said [the married woman] that the premises wherein she is stated to be interested are described to be in the parish or place of -[or, "parishes or places of -"], and in the county of [or, counties (as the case may be)]. of Sworn, &c. 66 N.B. When the whole of the facts cannot be spoken to by one deponent, variations may be made to enable more than one deponent to state their respective parts of the affidavit. GENERAL RULES MADE BY THE COURT OF COMMON 1. It is ordered, That, from and after the last day of this Term, where such parts of the affidavit verifying the certificate of acknowledgment taken in pursuance of the late act of Parliament respecting Where the fact of knowledge of the married woman, and of her being OF THE COMMON PLEAS. GENERAL RULES fines and recoveries, as state "the deponent's knowledge of the party making the acknowledgment and her being of full age," cannot be deposed to by a commissioner, or by an attorney or solicitor, the of full age cannot same may be deposed to by some other person, whom the person before be deposed to by a commissioner, whom the affidavit shall be made shall consider competent so to do. or by an attorney, &c., it may be de posed to by some other competent person, and the competency of such person is to be determined by the person administering the oath, that is to say, by a judge of one of the superior courts, or by a commissioner appointed for taking affidavits in the Court of Common Pleas. ment is taken, the fees authorised to Where more than 2. And it is further ordered, That where more than one married one acknowledgwoman shail at the same time acknowledge the same deed respecting the same property, the fees directed by the said rules to be taken, shall be taken for the first acknowledgment only. be charged for first only. The fees for the other acknowledgments to 3. And the fees to be taken for the other acknowledgment or acknowledgments, how many soever the same may be, shall be one-half be one-half of the of the original fees; and so also where the same married women shall at the same time acknowledge more than one deed respecting the same property. original fees. All acknowledgments in such cases to be included in one certificate and one affidavit. Lease and release to be considered as one acknowledgment. 4. And where in either of the above cases there shall be more than one acknowledgment, all such acknowledgments may be included in one certificate and affidavit. 5. In every case the acknowledgment of a lease and release shall be considered and paid for as one acknowledgment only. |