Williams' Case
Opinion of the Court
Before we proceed to the consideration of this case, it may be well, for the better understanding of the whole matter, to advert to the law as it before stood, as well as to some of the special estate acts, which the General Assembly had been induced to pass in relation to similar cases before the passage of the general acts under which this case has been brought before the court.
Among the various rights which an owmer may exercise over his property is that of directing, by his contract, his will, or otherwise, that his real estate shall be converted into personalty, or that his personalty shall be converted into realty. This right of conversion, however regarded at law, has long, in equity, been held to be a well established incident to every absolute ownership. And as equity considers that which has thus been directed to be done as having actually been done, in every case, except in dower;
Here the inquiry is as to the extent of the power of the Court of Chancery over the property of infants. It is admitted by all, that a guardian or trustee cannot merely as such make an absolute and total change in the nature of an infant’s estate; and also, that the Court of Chancery can direct or sanction no alteration whatever, in the nature of an infant’s estate, which his guardian or trustee might not of himself lawfully make,
On the other hand there are cases in which, that which is ordidinarily and technically considered as a part of the real estate of an infant may be converted into personalty; that is, the timber or mineral part of the inheritance may be sold and converted into personalty.
All the cases to be found in the English hooks which speak of the conversion of an infant’s real estate into personalty, merely for his advantage and convenience, are cases which relate to nothing more than the timber and mineral part of the inheritance. For it has been distinctly declared, that there is no instance of binding the inheritance of an infant by any discretionary act of this court; that as to personal tilings, as in the composition of debts, it has been done; but never as to the inheritance, for that would be assu
In the management of a lunatic’s estate, in England, looking to his maintenance and the payment of his debts, if the court sees that his advantage would be promoted by selling a part of his real estate, inconvenient, ill conditioned, &c. for these purposes, it would have no difficulty in doing so without making any saving of his rights over the property into which it had been converted ;
In England the conversion of an infant’s personal into real estate, by the purchase of lands, has been rarely or ever prohibited by the court, when made with a proper saving of the infant’s rights; because of the great additional security which is thus given to his property. Such a conversion is regarded as a permanently safe investment of the infant’s personalty; which, with due care, may always be made without loss, and can seldom fail to be advantageous to him;
In England there are many modes of investing money, other than by the purchase of real estate, so as to preserve it in perfect safety, and yet keep it constantly productive. In this country it is not so. There are here comparatively few, or, perhaps, no such perfectly safe and productive forms of investing money, other than by the purchase of land, or upon the mortgage of real estate, as in England; and therefore, considering the peculiar circumstances of our country, the conversion of an infant’s personal estate into realty, by way of a permanently safe investment, is much more obviously justifiable or even commendable here than in England.
On the other hand, apart from those kinds of conversion of the realty into personalty, by the sale of timber, coal, &c. it is, upon the same consideration, evident, that, in this country, no investment can be any thing like so safe as in land to which there is a clear title; and that the conversion of a clear fee simple estate in land can never be made with any prospect of placing the fund in the same degree of absolute security, or without incurring some expense and loss, such as costs and commissions ; and can rarely he so completed as to result in any general and permanent advantage to the infant. Consequently, there being no shadow of authority to be found in the English books, it would be difficult here to find any tenable ground upon which a court of justice could sustain itself in making a conversion of an infant’s real estate into personalty; or in so dealing with it, upon the pretext of its being for Ms advantage as to diminish its value, or to subject it to any new and additional perils.
In mortgage cases it, is, however, said, that the court will order an infant’s real estate, that is, regarding his equity of redemption
The courts of justice of England, acting in accordance with these general principles and holding the rights of property, particularly those of an infant, to be in all respects sacred and inviolable, but upon the ground of some great and overruling necessity, have cautiously abstained from meddling with all such rights in any way. And therefore it is, that the English Court of Chancery has never, except in the cases above mentioned, undertaken to dispose of an infant’s land, or inheritance in real estate; and that, although many cases have arisen, in which the income of an infant’s estate has been found to be entirely insuflicient for his sup
By a special estate act, passed before the act to direct descents, after reciting, that three hundred and fifty acres of land had descended to the. five daughters of John Worthington, deceased, as his heirs in co-parcenary; and that their mother, also then dead, had, by her will, directed her real estate to be sold, and the money arising from the sale to be put out at interest for their benefit; that one of the co-parceners was married to John Cradoclc, who claimed a partition; but, that a partition of so small a parcel of land would lessen the value, and be detrimental to the interests of the co-parceners, it was directed, that the land which had so descended should be sold, that part of the money, arising from the sale, should be paid to such of the parceners as were married, or of lawful age, to receive the same; and, that the residue should be put out on interest for the benefit of the other co-parceners,
In another special act it was set forth, that several lots of ground in Baltimore town, which had descended to, and been made over to three infants, were then useless- to them, and very heavily burthened with taxes; but would he of great advantage to the said children if leased out on ground rents for ninety-nine years renewable forever. Whereupon it was directed, that the lots should be leased with the approbation of the Orphans Court,
Since the alteration of the common law by the act to direct descents, on its being represented to the General Assembly, by the petition of William Wirt, a minor, that he was entitled to the moiety of a house and lot in Bladensburg, that he had received a classical education, and was then engaged in the study of the law; but, that his personal estate, with the annual value of his real estate, were insufficient to enable him to prosecute his studies with advantage; it was enacted, that his interest in the house and lot should be sold, and the proceeds applied towards his education and use.
In all, or almost all of these cases, it is evident, that the Legislature interposed merely for the purpose of removing a temporary
This application, for the sale of the real estate of these infants, is founded upon the provisions of several public and general acts of Assembly, by which, among other things, it is declared, that where any infants shall be possessed of any real estate, it shall be lawful for the Chancellor, upon the petition of the guardian or prochein ami of such infants, after summoning them, and their appearance by guardian, to be appointed by the Chancellor, to issue a commission to not less than three discreet and sensible men, freeholders of the county where such lands may lie, to view and ascertain, by competent and disinterested evidence, the value of such lands, taking into consideration the quality, local situation, improvements, with all the advantages, and also the disadvantages and incumbrances attending the same; and to determine whether it would he to the interest and advantage of the infants, that such land should he sold;
There is every reason to believe, that these public and general acts of Assembly, which it is proposed by this petition to have put in execution, were passed in consequence of the numerous applications which had been previously made to the Legislature for authority, by special estate acts, so to dispose of the property of infants, as most judiciously and effectually to maintain and educate them; and in order to turn over to the courts of justice a class of cases which, evidently, belong moré properly to the judicial than to the legislative department of the government. But these laws, like some others of no less utility and importance, lay open to the most latitudinous construction, and pernicious application; and therefore require to be carefully considered, and in each case very guardedly carried into effect.
By virtue of the power of eminent domain, which belongs to ours as to all other governments, private property may be taken for public use, on a just compensation being made. But it may be safely assumed, that the Legislature can, by no act, take the property of an adult citizen from him and give it to another, for any purpose, with or without compensation; and that no adult citizen can be compelled to use, apply, or alienate his property in any way whatever merely with a view to his own benefit and advantage. The holding and the application of private property, at the pleasure of its owner, so it be not as a nuisance or made injurious to others, according to the fundamental principles of our government, are rights so absolute, that no power in the land can touch or control them in any degree whatever. Infants, it is clear, hold their property by the same kind of absolute and Uncontrollable rights as adults. It is the duty of the state to protect a If her citizens; but more especially her infants, for whom she is bound to provide maintenance and education, in case they should be without parents or pecuniary means. The state has a deep interest in the proper maintenance and education of her infants; and, consequently, it must be within the constitutional competency of her government to make any legal provision necessary to facilitate the application of the property of infants to such purposes, as well for her own
An infant may, apparently, succeed to property which cannot, in strictness, be said to belong to him, because of the claims of others. The creditors of the ancestor from whom the estate descended, must be first paid before any part of it can be applied to the use of the infant heir. An act of Assembly which facilitates the application of such an estate to the payment of the debts of its late owner, merely gives to it its proper direction; and therefore, instead of violating, affirms the right to it, as deduced from its deceased owner. Nor can any law which goes no further than to provide for the application of an infant’s estate to his maintenance and education, be regarded as, in any respect, a violation of such infant’s right of property. An infant is, in general, incompetent to contract; but he may, by contract, bind himself for his maintenance and education; and hence a legislative enactment, which facilitates such an application of his estate, co-operates with the infant’s legally qualified right to contract, in discharge of a duty to himself, without trenching upon any of his rights.
The several tribunals of the judicial department of our government, have been framed and established with a view to the determination of matters in controversy between individuals. The Orphans Courts have been entrusted with authority to appoint guardians for infants; and to see that such guardians perform their duty as prescribed by law'; and the Court of Chancery has been invested with a similar and more extensive power in regard to the care of infants and their estates.
To coerce the payment of debts, and to make sale of property for that purpose ; or to provide for, and enforce the application of
Upon these considerations, therefore, I am of opinion, that these public acts, now proposed to be executed, so far as they clothe this court with a new and more enlarged jurisdiction, must be so construed as to confine them to those cases only where it is proper and necessary to sell the infant’s estate for his maintenance and education; that the general terms, £ for the interest and advantage of such infant,’ used in the first section, must be limited to mean, * for the maintenance and education of the said infant,’ as spoken of in the latter sections of them;
These general and standing acts of Assembly extending to the utmost verge, and in some respects beyond the constitutional competency of the General Assembly, have clothed this court, unassociated with any other tribunal, with a large, entirely new, and exceedingly delicate discretionary power, as to the disposition of the real estates of infants. It is a power which can, in no case, be carried into effect, with the same degree of confidence as those which the court exercises in controversies between litigating adults; for, in whatever manner a suit of this kind may be instituted, it is obvious, that the whole proceeding must be substantially, and in fact, conducted without the actual appearance, or any expression of opinion from the only person whose interest and advantage is alone to be considered. It is a sort of judicial proceeding which may easily be got up, and brought before the court by persons actuated by motives entirely at variance with fhe interests of the infant; and which sinister motives cannot he so seasonably delected as to prevent the designed sacrifice of the infant’s interests. For, according to the general practice, in all cases where an infant is made a defendant, the plaintiff, or petitioner, names the commissioner, and has the carriage of the commission for taking the infant’s answer by guardian; and, in cases of this kind, the Chancellor having no means of obtaining information, hut through the petitioner, is under a sort of necessity of accepting his nomination of three freeholders, to whom the commission of view and valuation is to be directed. There evidently, therefore, can he no security that a correct description of all the several component parts of the infant’s real and personal estate has been given in the petition, or shewn in any way,
These laws authorize an application of this kind, as well for the benefit of a single infant, holding a real estate in severalty, as in behalf of a plurality of infants, possessed of a real estate as joint-tenants or tenants in common with each other. They authorize such an application in behalf of an infant or infants possessed of a legal real estate of inheritance, or of an equitable title to real estate, or who may be seised of a reversion,
Here the application for a sale has been made by the widowed mother of the infants in their behalf; and all the circumstances shew, that a sale would be for their interest and advantage. The infants have no other source of revenue than this farm, which consists of two distinct tracts of land, the one held as chiefly or altogether valuable, because of its furnishing wood for the other; and the principal tract incapable of partition into four parts without much loss or disadvantage because of its valuable improvements of mills; and a large amount in value of other perishable edifices; and which principal tract, from its location along the margin of two water-courses, and being intersected by much frequented public roads is exposed to great injury from freshets and depredations along its borders. These and the other circumstances mentioned
The law declares, that, in cases like this, if there be a widow and she assents to a sale of the whole estate, she shall signify her consent in writing, and the same shall be filed with the register; and thereupon the trustee shall proceed to sell the whole estate disencumbered of her right of dower,
Decreed, that the lands and premises in the proceedings mentioned be sold, that Richard Potts he appointed trustee to make the sale, &c. having first given three weeks public notice inserted in sueh newspaper or papers as he shall deem proper, of the time, place, manner, and terms of sale; which shall be as follows : one-third of the purchase money to be paid in one, and one other third in two years, and the residue in three years from the day of sale, with legal interest on the whole from the day of sale; the purchase money to be secured by bond with surety to be approved by the trustee, &c. _
After which the trustee, by his petition,' asked leave to suggest to the Chancellor an alteration of the terms of sale prescribed by the decree, with a hope and under a belief, that the interests of the parties would be promoted by requiring a part of the purchase money to be paid in hand, and an extension of the time of payment of the balance; because much of the value of the estate depended upon the improvements upon it, consisting mainly of a costly mansion, and a large and very extensive mill; the loss of either of which, by fire, would impair the whole value of the estate to such a degree as to reduce the security contemplated by the reservation of the title until the whole purchase money was paid;
7th June, 1828.
This case having been again presented for further consideration, as to the terms of the sale, the proceedings were read and considered. The petitioner avers, that the amount for which the estate would sell, by a judicious investment of it, would yield and secure to the infants an income nearly three times greater than the net rents of the property, exclusive of the outlay for repairs and re-buildings. To maintain the infants, and to improve their income, by converting their estate into money, and investing it with as little delay and hazard as may be, are the chief objects of this proceeding. It is more necessary, in cases of this kind, where the court is, in effect, moving ex parte, for the benefit of infants, than in controversies to which adults are parties, that the estate should be advertised for sale at auction; and thus completely put into the market to prevent any unfairness, and to insure a sale at its full value, either at the appointed time of public sale, or at any subsequent period in another way, if a public sale cannot be made of it.
It is true as suggested by the trustee, that lands sell to greater advantage on long than on short credit; and it is better, in cases like this, to sell on an extended credit, with a stipulation, that interest shall be paid annually, than for cash; because the equitable lien is the best security the infants can have for the payment of the principal and interest of the purchase money. A sale on long credit, in cases of this kind, is always regarded by the court as being, in effect, an investment of the balance of the purchase money for the benefit of the infants. And, therefore, the purchaser ■will not be permitted to pay it before the stipulated day of payment, without paying the interest thereon, which would have accrued up to that time, so as to prevent any loss by the delay in making another investment. But on the other hand, if there is every reason to believe, that a good and safe investment may be immediately made; or if it appears, that there are any outstanding
The court can have no objection to an alteration of the terms of sale as proposed by the trustee; but in order to prevent a sale of the estate, at public auction, for less than its value; the trustee must fix a price, or have a reserved bid for the benefit of the infants. Under ordinary circumstances, where property is offered for sale at auction to the highest bidder, it is held at law, though doubted in equity, to be a violation of the terms of such an agreement, and a fraud upon the sale and the public to take advantage of the eagerness of bidders by screwing up the price by means of a puffer or bye-bidder;
After which the trustee reported, that in pursuance of the decree he first advertised the estate called Ceresville, in newspapers in Washington, Baltimore, and Fredericktown, for more than three weeks before the 24th of July, 1828; and, on that day, on the premises offered it to the highest bidder, reserving publicly one bid to prevent a sacrifice; and there being no bid beyond forty dollars per acre, which would have been a great sacrifice, the trustee was unable to sell; and now holds the same for disposal in parcels, as may suit purchasers, at private sale.
The trustee also reported the circumstances of the estate for di
29th July, 1828.
There seems to be no doubt, where the property in litigation, or its profits are in danger of being materially injured or lost, that this court has the power to interpose for the purpose of preventing its waste or destruction. It is upon this ground, that it grants an injunction to stay waste pending the prosecution of an action of ejectment, or any other suit to try the right,
Where, on a decree for a sale of a mortgaged estate to satisfy
In this case it would obviously he more advantageous to all concerned, that the estate should be so disposed of as to prevent the buildings and fixtures from being injured, or going to ruin; and, that the estate should be made to yield some profit for the maintenance and benefit of these parlies.
It is therefore Ordered, that the trustee be and he is hereby authorized to lease or rent the property in the proceedings mentioned in such manner, and upon such terms as he may deem most advantageous; Provided, that no part thereof be leased for more than one year, and so from year to year until a sale can he effected according to the terms of the said decree ; and subject to the further order of this court. And the trustee is hereby authorized and required to cause to be applied so much of the rents and profits as he may deem proper, to the making of necessary repairs in the buildings and fences.
On the 4th of May, 1829, the trustee reported, that he had advertised the property to be sold at auction ; but having received no bid for it, but what was obviously below the value, he then advertised it to be sold at private sale; and for that purpose had caused a lot of land to he laid off forty and a half acres and seven perches, including the mill, mill-house, and ferry, and other buildings appurtenant to the same, with the privileges of water and water-rights, &c.; which he had on the first day of May, 1829,
The trustee further reported, that he had, on the same day, sold the residue of the estate called Ceresville, containing four hundred and seventy-nine and a half acres and eight perches, to Charles W. Johnson, at the price of fifty dollars per acre, on the following terms: six thousand dollars to be paid on the first day of May then next, and the balance to be paid three years from the first day of May next, with interest from that date payable annually thereon, to be secured by bonds with two good sureties, &c. &c. That the amount of the sales, exclusive of the rents not due which were passed to the vendors, was thirty-five thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven dollars and fifty cents. And, that the wood lot yet remained unsold. These sales were finally ratified on the 6th of July, 1829.
The widow and petitioner Susan F. Williams, filed an affidavit of a person, not interested in the case, in which it was testified, that she was then, on the 16th day of July, 1829, between forty and fifty years of age, and that she then enjoyed and was in full and good health. Upon which she submitted the case, that a proportion of the proceeds of the sales might be allowed to her in lieu of her dower in the real estate which had been sold.
17th July, 1829.
As regards the proportion of the proceeds of sale to be awarded to the widow, as the present value of her dower, which is the matter now submitted for determination, there is a material difference between the rule prescribed by the acts of Assembly and the rule of this court. I had, on considering this matter, thought it would be well to have but one general rule, which should apply indiscriminately to all cases; and, as the court could not in any way depart from the express provisions of the act of Assembly, I suggested the propriety of obtaining from the General Assembly an act, which should establish such- a general rule of apportionment as would embrace all cases. A move for that purpose was made in the Senate;
Ordered, that the said Susan F. Williams be and she is hereby allowed one-seventh part of the net proceeds of the sales of the property in the proceedings mentioned for and in lieu of her dower.
The auditor reported, that he had examined the proceedings, and stated an account in which the proceeds of sales, $35,977 50, and the rents, $400 47, received by the trustee were applied, in the first instance, to the payment of the trustee’s allowance for commissions and expenses, the costs of suit, $1,192 89; the widow’s allowance, in lieu of dower, §4,969 23, and her proportion of the rents, $133 49, and the balance was distributed among the deceased’s children, and heirs at law.
31st July, 1829.
Ordered, that the foregoing report of the auditor be and the same is hereby ratified and confirmed; and the trustee is directed to apply the proceeds accordingly with a due proportion of interest that has been or inay be received.
Elizabeth C. Williams, one of these parties, by her petition stated, that since the bill had been filed, and since her answering thereto, she had arrived at her age of sixteen years, and had become entitled to receive her proportion of the proceeds of the sales; and prayed that the amount might be directed to be paid to her, &c.
21 st August, 1829.
Ordered, that the share of so much of the balance of the money, now in court, as the said Elizabeth C. Williams is entitled to, be paid to her as prayed by the foregoing petition,
On the 18th of March, 1831, the auditor reported, that he had examined the proceedings and stated an account, in which the proceeds of the last sales, $2,200, and the rents, $15, received by the trustee, were applied to the payment of the trustee’s allowance for commissions and expenses, county taxes, additional costs, $126 82; and the widow’s allowance in lieu of dower, $296 17, and her share of the rent, $5, and had distributed the balance amongst the deceased’s children and heirs at law.
From the reports of the trustee, and of the auditor together, it appears, that the whole amount of rent received for one year’s rent of the estate, was $1,530; from which there was a deduction for repairs, presumed to be $130, leaving a net amount of $1,400 for rent; and that the net amount of the proceeds of the sales was $37,256 26; out of which there was awarded to the widow $5,265 30, in lieu of her dower.
21st March, 1831.
This case is now sub -
There are many cases falling within the jurisdiction of this court, in which it becomes necessary to put a present value upon an estate for life. As where land is sold, so that those who have a particular life interest in it, are to have an equivalent in value awarded to them out of the proceeds of sale;
The earliest case in relation to this matter I have met with, is one which was decided by the High Court of Chancery of England in 1661, and from the language used, in the report of it, there is room to infer, that it was the first in which any question as to the proportional value of a particular estate, and a reversion or remainder had ever been presented for determination. It appears, that Hannah, the widow of Sharp, who had left her a considerable estate, married Geering, her second husband, who settled upon her certain land for life as a jointure; that they mortgaged the jointure; after which Geering died, and she married Rowel, with whom she filed a bill to redeem; and a question arose in what manner a redemption should be made, and by whom ; whether by Hannah; or by the infant heir of Geering; and by whom the mortgage money should be paid. Upon which it was said, that the court conceived it most just, that Hannah and the infant heir should proportionably pay what was due upon the mortgage, at the time of the death of Geering the mortgagor, rating the estate for life of Hannah at one-third, and the reversion in fee at two-thirds, from the time of the death of Geering,
No explanation is to be found in any of these-cases of the principles of equity upon which the court proceeded in fixing the proportion in which the tenant for life and the reversioner should contribute ; nor is the age or health of the tenant for life, spoken of in any of them. It does not, however, seem to have been adopted as an absolute rule,but rather as one of convenience; as a medium by which to apply the rule of equity; for, in a case of this kind, determined in 1697, it is said, that in adjusting what each estate was to pay, each was to be valued at what they were respectively worth to be sold,
In the year 1717, an executor having paid debts to a large amount, and doubts having arisen about the application of the different kinds of assets, there being a deficiency of personalty to pay all the debts, he filed a bill to obtain the direction of the court. Upon which it appeared, that the testator, being seised in fee of .some land, and possessed of a lease for years, in other lands, and indebted by specially and simple contract, devised an annuity of forty pounds a year, out of the lease for years to one grandson, and the lease itself to another grandson, and likewise devised all his lands in fee to A. and his heirs. None of the devisees were his heirs at law. It was held, that, to prevent the disappointment of the testator’s intent, the devisee of the fee simple estate, and the devisees of the lease, and of the annuity, should each contribute to the debts by specialty. And, for that purpose, it was, among other things, directed, that the master should ascertain what, at the testator’s death, was the value of the lands devised in fee, and of the lease, and also of the annuity; and, to lay the said deficiency rateably upon the same according to their respective values; and to state what part necessarily must, and what part most conveniently might be sold for that purpose,
In 1687, on a hill to be relieved against a conveyance, it appeared, that the plaintiff being entitled to an estate tail, after the death of his father, in lands which, if in possession, were worth, to be sold, about £800, did in 1671, for £30 paid and £20 per annum, secured to he paid to him during the lives of him and his lather, absolutely convey his remainder in tail to the defendant’s father and his heirs. The conveyance was set aside as being an unrighteous bargain in the beginning.
ft is not unlawful for a remainderman or a reversioner to sell his 'estate. Such sales are only set aside because of some fraudulent conduct in the purchaser, or because of his having taken some undue advantage of the seller of such an interest. Among other circumstances, inadequacy of price, may, in all such cases, be taken into the consideration as evidence of fraud. But inadequacy of price can only be shewn by making an estimate of the then value ó'f the life estate, and deducting that value from the then price of the inheritance, or the absolute or renewable estate. Some such proportional valuation must have been made in each of these cases, as well as in those which relate to the discharge of mortgages, or other incumbrances; yet there is nothing to be found in the reports of any of them, or in the reports of those which involve the apportionment of incumbrances, or in those which relate to the abatement of specific legacies or to the adjustment of the amount for which an annuitant is to be admitted as a creditor against the estate of a bankrupt or insolvent, before the year 1750, which alludes to any positive rule of apportionment, or that indicates the principles by which the court was governed in putting a present value upon a
The putting of a present value upon a life annuity, or upon a certain rent for life, or upon a specified annual life income of any description necessarily involves a consideration of the chances of life of the individual during whose life such an annual income is claimed; for although other matters must be taken into consideration in making an estimate of its present value; such as the sufficiency of the security, the probable punctuality of the annual payment, the general demand for the use of money, and the like ; yet, it would be difficult to make any calculation as to the duration of a single life without the aid of some general observations as to the rate of mortality, and the probable duration of such lives in like situations. .But a judicial controversy as to the present value of a particular life interest, being, in its nature, confined to an insulated subject, however dependant a full understanding and correct determination of it may be upon the doctrine of chances, cannot afford the means of collecting those facts and circumstances on which that doctrine rests, since the doctrine is itself the result of general observations upon those previously collected facts and circumstances, in relation to the duration of human life, whilst the adjudication must necessarily be, if it proceeds upon that doctrine at all, a mere application of it to the peculiar case. Hence it is, that, although judicial investigations may, in such cases, be greatly facilitated by a just application of that doctrine, there is no allusion to any rule for estimating the probable continuance of life to be met with, in any of the reported adjudications, until long after the publication of several essays upon the doctrine of chances in relation to the duration of human life.
Doctor Edmund Halley, an eminent mathematician of England, appears to have been the first who undertook to explain the doctrine of chances in relation to the probable duration of human life. About the year 1690, he published his Essay on the Determination of the Degrees of Mortality, in order to adjust the valuation of annuities on lives, founded, as he informs us, upon a table of observations of the births and deaths in the city of Breslaw in Silesia,
. In every judicial inquiry, instituted for the purpose of ascertain
In all our inquiries for this purpose, it should be borne in mind, however, that it appears from observations every where, that there is an ultimate term beyond which human life cannot be extended; that the days of our years are threescore years and ten, and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow.
It seems to be generally admitted, that marriages are not more fruitful now than in past ages, and in stages of society having much less of the comforts, or even of the necessaries of life, than at present; that the poor bring forth more children than the rich, but preserve fewer;
The expectation of life varies not only with country and place, but also according to the grade and condition of individuals in society; and such variations are most remarkable in those countries in which the grades and conditions are most strongly distinguished. In England as well as in all the other countries of the old world, the expectation of life is greatest in favour of those of the middle classes, and least favourable to those of the aristocratic orders, whose lives are curtailed by their intemperance and debaucheries ;
It often happens however, that in the inquiries which have been made concerning the duration of human life much has been said as to the insalubrity of particular situations; as to the causes, prevalence, and cure of diseases; and also as to the political causes which materially affect the continuance of human life; but with all, or any of those causes, or with the prevention, or removal of any of them, a court of justice, when called upon merely to deter
There are few situations as to which any observations have been made, from which tables have been formed; and yet, without any allowances for differences, those few tables have been used as if they were alike applicable to all times and circumstances. This is a great error. Such tables, as regards other situations, can only be used by way of analogy, and can be relied on, in so far only as it can be shewn, by adverting to all the causes which materially affect human life, that the situation to which the tables are proposed to be applied for information are altogether, or very nearly similar to that for which they were made. Tables shewing the expectation of life at different ages over the whole of Sweden, for instance, could not be followed as safe guides for ascertaining the expectation of life, at the same ages, over the whole of Hindostán. And so too, it would be improper to take the tables of expectation formed for the city of London as rules for ascertaining the expectation of life in Wales. The causes materially affecting the duration of human life, at the time and place for which a table has been made, must, therefore, be understood and compared with those of the place where the life in question exists, before such allowances can be made for the differences, should there be any, as will warrant the use of such table as a means of ascertaining the value of each life.
But, as it is to those tables to which the modern English adjudications refer, in speaking of the means of ascertaining the present value of a life interest, it will be proper to advert to some of the principal circumstances of time and place from which the most approved among them have been formed. It seems, that the formation of tables of the expectation of life, at various ages, calculated from observations made, some time prior to the year 1679, at Breslaw in Lower Silesia, as to the duration of human life, originated with Dr. Halley, of England. But it is now admitted, on all hands, that those tables are so imperfect as to be wholly unlit for use; thus leaving to the Doctor no other merit, in this respect, than that of having been the first to shew the use of such tables, and how they might be constructed from correct observations,
The next set of tables are those formed by Dr. Price from bills of mortality kept in the parish of All Saints in the town of Northampton in England, during the years 1735 to 1780. Northampton stands on a high region in the midst of England, and contains at present about eight thousand four hundred inhabitants. It is situated on the river Nen, and is chiefly built on the slope, and near the top of a hill, and is generally clean and pleasant. The parish of Ail Saints embraces about half the population of the town,
The Equitable Insurance Company of London is said to be the most wealthy and extensive institution of the kind in Europe. This company, from their own observations and experience, have formed tables, such as they have deemed safe to follow, with a view to profit. These tables, called the Equitable Tables, have been often resorted to as guides, and have been from time to time revised by the actuaries of the institution.
The last and most recently constructed set of European tables, are those formed about the year 1825, by John Finlaison, the actuary of the National Debt Office of England. These tables were deduced from observations upon the life annuitants of the English government, composed of all classes dispersed over all England, and amounting to nearly twenty-five thousand people, during a period of more than thirty years. But, against these tables it may be objected as against those of Sweden, that they appear to be based upon a view of the population of the whole
The only tables of the expectation of life which have been calculated from any observations in this country are those founded on the results furnished by the records of the Episcopal Church, and of the Board of Health of the city of Philadelphia, which, it is said, have been adopted by the Pennsylvania Company for insurance on lives and granting annuities.
All these tables however, relate simply to the expectation of the life of individuals at various ages, and nothing more. But, in many instances, the annuity, or life interest, is made to depend upon two or more lives of the same or different ages; and, consequently the expectation of each life must be considered, and the case thus becomes more complex; but being deduced from the same known facts, as to each life, an estimate of their joint value is still nothing more than the result of a regular arithmetical calculation according to rules and tables to be found in the books which treat of such calculations.
There are instances, however, in which the annuity or estate is made to depend upon other contingencies, in connexion with that of the expectation of the life of the individual; as where an estate is given to a person to hold until he shall receive an appointment to some office of profit, or so long as he lives unmarried ; in which case it is not only necessary to ascertain the expectation of life which may be allowed to the individual; but an additional estimate must be made of his expectation of receiving a profitable appointment, or of his marriage; and then, the value of the two contingencies taken together may be calculated in like manner as in the making of an estimate of the combined value of two or more lives; except, that in the case of two, or more lives, each life adds somewhat to the value of the expectancy, whereas a contingency annexed to a life diminishes its value. There may be very great difficulty in determining the
About the year 1825, Dr. Grenville, a physician and accoucheur of very extensive practice connected with the Westminster Dispensary, and several other public institutions in or near London, on being called as a witness before a committee of the House of Commons, stated, that his attention had been frequently directed to the statistical questions of the increase of population among the poor; and that therefore, availing himself of his various means of information, he had made an analytical register in which he had entered the information he had obtained from mothers. He ex-bited a register of the cases of eight hundred and seventy-six women, all of the lower classes, showing how many of that number had married in each year, from thirteen to thirty-nine years of age. Considering the state of society in England, the remark would seem to be just, that among an equal number from the middling, or the higher classes, we should not probably find so many as one hundred and ninety-five, or more than one-fifth married under the age of nineteen; or so few as one-sixteenth part,
From all these various tables I have extracted so much as relates to the expectation of life shewn by each, and placed it in a separate column opposite to a column of ages, so as, in this respect, to exhibit in one general table a comparative view of all of them, together with a column shewing the number out of eight hundred and seventy-six females, who were married at the several ages as stated by Dr. Grenville. It should be recollected, however, that in the language of mathematicians, who treat of this matter, the probabilities of life, and the expectation of life, are different. By the probabilities of life is meant the likelihood, that all who are born in any particular place or country, or that of any given number bom, so many will be found alive at any given age; as, for example, according to Dr. Halley’s tables, out of one thousand persons born, only five hundred and ninety-eight will live to reach the twentieth year of their age; but according to the London tables, of the same number bom, three hundred and sixty will reach that age; thus exhibiting a view of the waste of life from birth to that age. By the expectation of life is meant, that particular number of years which a life of a given age has an equal chance of enjoying; or the time that such a person may reasonably expect to live. Tables shewing the expectation of life are formed from those showing the probabilities of life.
The matter, it is said, had, in some of the cases determined prior to the year 1804, been very anxiously, frequently and gravely considered, although it does not appear from the reports of them; because of the intricacy of the subject, and of its not being easy to follow a discussion upon so difficult a question in which such great nicety of fact and calculation were involved. And it was then finally laid down, as a general rule in all cases, where a present value was to be put upon an annuity for life, or any other life interest in properly, as well as where a burthen was to be borne by an entire estate which was held by a particular tenant, and a
In applying this rule for estimating the value of an estate for life, or in order to make an apportionment between the several owners of a real estate, it appears, that the English courts of justice have, latterly, in almost all cases, sought assistance from the tables formed by mathematicians of the expectation of life, without receiving them, except, perhaps, in the case of the distribution of the assets of a deceased person’s estate;
In cases of pensions or annuities for life granted by government; in cases of a life interest in land, not chiefly valuable because of
In addition to all these various circumstances relative to the expectation of life, and the securities by which a life interest is to be continued and sustained, it will be necessary moreover to ascertain the annual product of the life interest in order to make a proper estimate of its present value; for, apart from those things having an imaginary value, such as jewels and the like, the true criterion of the value of all property is the actual profit it may be made to produce; and hence, it has always been considered most correct to estimate the value of lands, annuities, &c. at so many years purchase; or, in other words, that the whole estate may be estimated as equivalent to so many years of its income paid at the time of the purchase,
In making an estimate of the value of such an estate, there is, however, a material distinction between a tenant for life who is, and one who is not liable to impeachment for waste. A tenant for life, subject to impeachment of waste, cannot sell the timber growing on the estate, nor take the produce of mines unopened, both of which are the property of the person entitled to the inheritance; yet in cases where the estate has been sold to pay debts, the court, it is said, has given a life estate in the whole interest of the surplus money to the tenant for life, although the sum is increased
There is yet one other matter which must be attended to, and that is, as to the point of time at which the valuation of the life interest is to be made. A valuation as of the time when it arose would, in many cases, give to the tenant for life its greatest value after he had enjoyed it many years; and therefore, it would seem to be most correct to have the valuation put upon it at that point of time when it was to be taken away or extinguished ; as in cases of dower, &c., at the time when the land was sold free of such claim; or where the life interest had been withheld, at the date of the order, by which a sum in gross was directed by the court to be given in place of it; leaving the previous income which had, or might have accrued, and should have been paid, to be accounted for as rents and profits. But where an annuity had been given to a child as an advancement, it was said, if it should be brought into ■hotchpot after the death of the parent, that a valuation ought to be put upon it as of the day .when it was granted; and so too, where a party comes as an expectant heir to set aside the contract on the ground of fraud and inadequacy of price, the valuation is to be calculated as of the day of the original transaction,
But this whole matter, as well in regard to the expectation of life and the nature of the securities to support the life interest, as in regard to the exact point of time at which the valuation is to be adjusted, seems as yet, in England, to remain unsettled by any positive general rule,
There are some cases, however, in which it has not been deemed necessary to put a present value upon the entire particular estate in comparison with that of the inheritance, in order to adjust the proportions in which the burthen should be borne by each. As in
The Roman census was a numbering of the people with a valuation of their fortunes; which, although said to have been made every five years, was not always taken at certain intervals; and was sometimes omitted altogether. It does not, however, appear to have been, in fact, an enumeration of all the inhabitants, but was merely a numbering and classing of the citizens of Rome, and of the colonial cities;
From such information, however, as we possess, it may be confidently assumed, that the average rate of mortality is, in general, not greater here than in any part of Europe ; and that taking into consideration all political and natural causes, as compared with England, in this respect, the most favoured portion of Europe,
In the year 1751, it was estimated, that there were upwards of one million of English souls within the territory of the then colonies, afterwards thirteen United States, although it was thought, that scarce eighty thousand had been brought over sea.
But however desirable it may be to obtain correctly formed tables of the expectation of life, as a means of estimating the value
It is admitted as regards even the comparatively stationary circumstances of the cities of Europe, that a large allowance must be made for the adult population annually poured into them from the country,
The shiftings of the population of the several counties of Maryland have also been in many respects very extraordinary, and altogether dissimilar from any thing observed of any district of the country population of Europe. It appears, that, as a whole, Maryland has continued greatly to increase in population from its first settlement down to the last census, (1830;) and yet, that most of the lower counties within which the main strength of the state was found, during the revolutionary war, have latterly diminished in their population by having large portions of it, with a considerable increase, after deducting the great mass thrown into the new regions of the west, shifted into the upper counties; great spaces of which
The making of all observations as to the expectation of human life here are, however, not only rendered difficult by the extraordinary shifting of our population; but those difficulties are much increased by the changes continually going on in the salubrity of many situations in our country. The territory of Maryland, when the first settlers seated themselves upon it, was everywhere covered by a thick and lofty forest, and drained by innumerable rivulets, creeks and rivers all pouring into the great Chesapeake. A territory so shaded, and so netted with humid valleys and watercourses, many of them descending from rugged and elevated mountains, under a climate, ranging from such high degrees of heat in summer, to such low degrees of cold in winter, it is evident, must have been, in its primitive state, productive of causes affecting human life differing materially in malignity from those which had been found to arise over any equal space of Europe. But the active civilized people who took possession of Maryland as they increased in numbers and advanced, felled large spaces of the forest and laid bare, drained, and cultivated the soil. These operations by changing the state of things, may have produced some
The African race, in our country, are, in many respects, materially different from the European. The negro constitution has in it something peculiarly calculated to resist that malaria which is so deadly to the whites. A negro, it is well known, will enjoy good health during some seasons and in many situations in which the white man can scarcely exist. In all that concerns the probable or average duration of human life, as being in any way involved in a judicial determination upon a right of property, it would seem to be wholly unnecessary to extend our inquiries beyond Ihe class of free whites; because free negroes have little property, and negroes held as slaves can have none. But although slaves are incompetent themselves to hold property ; yet considered as property they have always been valued, assessed, and taxed in proportion to their ability of body, age, and sex;
It is certain, that life interests in almost every form, such as estates for life in lands, in personal property, in annuities, &c. were fully recognized by the law of England from a very remote period; yet the doctrine of chances, in relation to the expectation
It appears, that in New York, in cases in equity, where it becomes necessary, or it is agreed to award to a widow a compensation in lieu of her dower, it is the course of the court to refer the matter to a master in Chancery to have a gross sum liquidated by the value of her life according to the tables of life annuities ; or to have the interest of one-third of the purchase money of the estate secured to her for her life; and yet it would seem, that the gross sum to be awarded to her must be no more than equivalent to the price of an annuity the same in amount as the annual rents and profits of her dower,
In Maryland there have been frequent and important occasions for recurring to the doctrine of chances in regard to the expectation of human life as a means of ascertaining the value of life interests in property; and the valuation of such interests has presented many and great difficulties to the minds of the legislative as well as to those of the judicial department; and therefore, it cannot be deemed amiss to bring together here all that is to he found in the books of our code in relation to this important matter.
An annual public tax upon land may, with propriety, be regarded, in most respects, as being of the same nature as a mere incumbrance imposed upon it by its individual owner. It is evidently one that hears upon it like the annual interest of a mortgage debt; which must be kept down by the particular tenant who takes its rents and profits. Bnt although that may be considered as a correct mode of adjusting such a burthen as between a particular tenant, paying no rent, and a mere naked reversioner or remainderman; yet as between landlord and a tenant rendering rent; and as between a tenant of a house rendering rent to a landlord, who himself pays rent over to a ground landlord for the same estate, the question is different; and the mode of adjusting the burthen of taxation, in such cases, is by no means so clear. The proportions and the mode in which a tax should be borne by those who hold distinct interests in the same land seems to have been attended with some perplexity every where; and it appears, that the matter remained long in doubt here, even if it can yet be considered as having been finally put to rest.
It has been laid down as a settled principle, that the citizens of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities ; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. The expense of government to the individuals of a nation is like the expense of management to the joint-tenants of a great estate, who are all obliged to contribute in proportion to their respective interests. In the observation or neglect of this maxim consists what is called the
These general principles have been incorporated into our Declaration of Rights, which declares, ‘that the levying taxes by the poll is grievous and oppressive, and ought to be abolished; that paupers ought not to be assessed for the support of government; but every person in the state ought to contribute his proportion of public taxes for the support of government, according to his actual worth in real or personal property within the state; yet fines, duties, or taxes may properly and justly be imposed, or laid with a political view, for the good government and benefit of the community.’
A poll tax upon slaves is altogether different from a poll tax upon freemen. The latter is paid by the persons upon whom it is imposed; the former by a different set of persons. The latter is either altogether arbitrary, or altogether unequal, and in most cases is both the one and the other; the former, though in some respect unequal, different slaves being of different values, is in no respect arbitrary. Every master who knows the number of his own slaves, knows exactly what he has to pay. Those different taxes however, being called by the same name, have been often considered
Under the provincial government, poor people who received alms from the county, were exempted from taxation.
In what light are such taxes to be regarded ? Are they to be considered as poll, or capitation taxes, or taxes upon property, or upon wages or profits? or can they be considered as falling within any of the restrictions of this article ? The persons on whom these taxes were imposed, certainly could not be deemed paupers ; yet the law itself, directing the assessment, impliedly admits, that it was not a contribution of their proportion of public taxes according to their actual worth in property; nor is it intimated, in any of the acts by which they were imposed,' that those taxes were imposed with a political view for the benefit of the community.
It appears, then, from this article of the Declaration of Rights, that it must be regarded as a constitutional duty of the General Assembly so to lay all-taxes as that they shall bear upon each person in exact proportion to his actual worth in real or personal property; but it is presumed, that this rule extends only to such ■ taxes as may be laid to raise a revenue to the state, not to assessments for mere county or local purposes. A land tax assessed according to a general valuation, however equal it may be at first, must soon become unequal; and as to prevent its becoming so would require the constant and painful attention of the government to all the variations in the condition of every different farm in the country;
This general rule, if it had been suffered to stand unqualified,
But all these expressions relate to the imposition of taxes, not to an exemption from taxation. There is nothing in these clauses, nor any thing in the whole of either article which authorizes the General Assembly to exempt any private property from taxation, or to exonerate any person, natural or artificial, from contributing his or its proportion of the public taxes according to his or its actual worth in property; nor is there any thing in any part of the Declaration of Rights, or in the Constitution and Form of Government of the state which admits of such an exemption in any manner or form whatever.
The English statute, passed in the year 1692, for the laying of a general tax, embraced all property of every description, real and personal, ready money and debts, as well as the shares of the New
Here, however, it has been at different times declared, not merely that all public property belonging to the United States, to this state, to a county, to colleges and county schools, houses of worship, and burying grounds, should be exempted from taxation;' but that the property of foreigners coming' here to settle should, for a time, be exempted; that the crop and produce of the land, in the hands of the person whose land produced the same; plantation utensils ; the working tools of mechanics and manufacturers actually and constantly employed in their respective occupations ; goods, wares and merchandise imported; all home manufactures in the hands of the manufacturers; all stills; ready money, grain, tobacco, riding carriages, and all licensed vessels whatever, should be exempted from taxation.
Are not exemptions from taxation, like these, of private property, violations of the constitutional ride directing that each person shall be made to contribute his proportion of public taxes
In the Roman empire, under the reign of Augustus, a tax of five per cent, was imposed upon all legacies and inheritances of a certain value, which were not given to the nearest of kin on the father’s side ; so that, when the rights of nature and poverty were thus secured, it seemed reasonable that a stranger, or a distant relation, who acquired an unexpected accession of fortune, should cheerfully resign a twentieth part of it for the benefit of the state.
This direction of the Declaration of Rights of Maryland, that every person ought to contribute his proportion of public taxes according to his actual worth in property, must be extended to all limited and life interests in property as well as to all absolute and unlimited estates; and therefore here, as under the British statute, to impose a tax in due proportion it becomes necessary, in like manner, to ascertain the present value of all life interests which may be made the subject of taxation. It would seem, that this rule has been taken from the most approved writers on political economy; according to whom, as we have seen, the contribution of each citizen should be in proportion to his abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which he enjoys under the protection of the state. If this be the true meaning of this constitutional rule, then he alone, who draws a revenue from his property, or has the present command of its profits, can be made to pay a tax upon it. A naked reversioner or remainderman cannot be taxed, as he not
The first General Assembly, convened under the constitution, in an act, the general frame of which seems to have been taken from the before mentioned English statute of L692, declared, that a rate of two shillings in the pound should be set on all real and personal estate including ready money, tobacco in warehouses, and plate, according to the true value thereof; not, as by the English statute, according to the annual rent of the land. Yet it was provided, that if any person should be compelled by the enemy to leave his habitation, or be rendered incapable of carrying on his business he might be exempted from taxation. And it was also declared, that where land stood charged with the payment of rent, the lessee might pay the tax, and have it deducted from his rent. Thus charging him who occupied without rent, or the landlord who received the rent with the whole tax.
It was the year after declared, that the interest of tenant by the courtesy, or tenant for life without impeachment of waste, who paid no rent, should be charged with the whole tax.
In the year following the General Assembly applied different rules of apportionment by a law which declared, that where divers persons have particular estates carved out of the same inheritance, as in dower, or by the courtesy, or for life or years, with reversions or remainders for life, in tail, or fee simple, a just computation thereof should be made in proportion to the value of their particular interests, so that they amount to the full value of the land; and in making such computation the tenancy in dower, by the courtesy, or for life in possession, or estate for fifteen years without any valuable rent reserved should generally be considered as worth half the value of the fee simple; but this general rule might be departed from as justice might require, considering the age and health of the tenant in dower, by the courtesy, or for life, and the chance of the remainder or reversion, or the length of the term for years and the Value of the rent reserved; but w’here a full rent was reserved, so that the interest of the tenant could not be considered as valuable,the landlord should pay the whole tax. And further, that ground rents in Annapolis and other towns, of eight pounds, should be assessed as for one hundred pounds capital; and so in proportion: that the lessee should be assessed on the actual worth of the improvements made since the lease, and the present value of the land, after deducting the value thereof, at the time of the lease, which should be estimated at one hundred pounds for every eight pounds, of the ground rent reserved; and so in proportion. And moreover, that the lessors of houses in Annapolis, and other towns, yielding an annual rent, should be assessed for every sixteen pounds rent, as for one hundred pounds capital, and so in proportion; and upon leases for above three years, and where the value of the ground and improvements exceed the value of the rent, the lessee should be assessed upon the sum which the actual worth of the ground and improvements in ready money exceeded the value of the rent, calculating sixteen pounds at one hundred pounds capital.
This mode of apportioning the burthen of taxation was continued for twelve years, when all the provisions respecting ground rents,- and houses in towns, were entirely put aside; and new rules were enacted by a law which declared that where divers per
It seems, then, that after many changes in the mode of making an assessment of public taxes, it has been latterly considered that, in general, the true understanding of the constitutional rule, which requires the contribution from each person to be in proportion to his actual worth in property, is, that the proportion must be according to his actual worth in such property as he has it in his power to make annually profitable; not in unproductive abstract naked rights of property, which may never be beneficial to him; and the title to which he cannot be compelled to litigate,
In England, as it would seem, few’ cases arise in which a widow may have a proportion, or the annual interest on a share of the purchase money of an estate awarded to her in lieu of her dower; and therefore, there is little or nothing to be found in the English books as to what should be considered as an equivalent for such a life estate,
In these and a variety of similar cases where relief has been sought by means of special legislative enactments, it appears that what should be deemed the present value of a life interest in land,, has been in a great many instances submitted to the consideration
Besides these various private acts, in the passing of which this subject appears to have been placed before the mind of the Legislature, there are several public and important laws in relation to the valuing of life interests, in the passing of which by the General Assembly, it is but reasonable to presume, that the matter must have been more fully and deliberately considered.
In the beginning of the year 1800, the then existing law regulating the descents of real estates, was so modified as to declare, that in case of a sale of the real estate of an intestate for the purpose of effecting a division of its value among the heirs, there should he awarded to the widow, according to her age, health,
There is nothing in any of these laws, which shews, that in estimating the value of a life interest in land any separation or distinction was distinctly directed to be made between that portion of the purchase money of the whole which should be regarded as the price of the life interest only, and that which was to be considered as the price of the remainder or reversion. But such a distinction does not seem to have been altogether lost sight of in all the laws in relation to this matter; for it is declared, that upon a sale of a reversion belonging to an infant, with the assent of the tenant for life, the court shall order the annual interest, or such part thereof as may be deemed equitable to be paid over to such tenant for life during his life,
There can be no doubt, that long antecedent to the amendment in 1800, of the act to direct descents, there must have been brought before the courts of justice many cases in which it was necessary to make a valuation of a life interest; but no such case has been reported. In a case which was brought before this court in the year 1801, by a widow to obtain an allowance of a proportion of the proceeds of sale as a compensation for her dower, the Chancellor speaks of it as the first of the kind, within his recollection. In adjusting the proportion of the proceeds of the sale to be allowed to her in that case, he declares, that as she could not use her third part of the land as tenant in fee simple, she could not be entitled to one-third of the annual interest on the whole purchase money; but on consideration of all the circumstances, and without apparently adverting to the act providing, that in cases arising under the act to direct descents, the widow should be allowed not more than a seventh nor less than a tenth of the proceeds of sale, he awarded to her three-twentieths of the net proceeds of sale.
‘Sometimes,’ says he, ‘when lands, subject to dower, are sold under the authority of this court, the widow and the persons concerned agree, that the Chancellor fix the value of the dower. There had prevailed an idea pretty generally, that the value of the dower, of a middle aged woman, was only one-eighth of the whole value of the land; and parties sometimes, in this court, have agreed, that one-eighth of the net money arising from the sale should belong to the-widow. The aforesaid idea is evidently borrowed from England, where the widow’s dower is estimated from the rents. For instance, land which would sell for £7,500, rents for only £300, or four per cent.; well; as the widow is entitled to one-third of the cent, viz. to £100 per annum for life, they calculate the present , ue of her annuity. If thirty years of age, or under, she has an equal chance of living twenty-four years ; for this they set down twelve years certain, and then calculate the present value of an annuity of £100 for twelve years. This they find about £937 10s. 0d.; calculating their rate of interest which is five per cent.; the said £937 10s. 0d. is just one-eighth part of £7,500.’
. ut surely the incontrovertible principle is this; as the widow is '■tied to one-third of the land for life, when she consents, that ¿i v ¡.and may be sold, she is entitled to the interest of one-third of money for life. Suppose then, the land sell for £3,000, the h-v. vest is £180, one. third of which is £60; suppose her of such au ago, that is, not exceeding thirty, as to have an equal chance of living twenty-four years; set down twelve years certain, and calcrl¡¡i,e [he present value of an annuity for twelve years of £60 per I calculate at compound interest of six per cent, and the said. \ Hue to be rather more than £500, which is one-sixth of the whole money, £3,000. Had I calculated at simple interest the value would have been still less; but compound interest surely is righ;, You wish to knowthe present value of £100 to be received twelve years hence ; you find it to be £50, because £50 at compound interest of six per cent, in twelve years amounts to £100, and
‘The Chancellor has taken the trouble to demonstrate clearly, that young widows have not generally received near the value of their dower. It is plain to common sense, that the dower of an •old woman cannot be equal in value to that of a young one. To fix one value of all dowers is therefore, preposterous. The Chancellor has, with great trouble, care and attention, calculated, on the principles here laid down, the value of dowers of women of different ages. It is certain, that the value of the dower of a healthy woman twenty years of age, who has an equal chance of living thirty, is more than that of a woman, who has attained thirty years; however, the Chancellor, under all circumstances, has thought proper to consider the dower of all women, not exceeding thirty years of age, to be no more than one-eighth of the net sum produced-by the sale of lands; and he thinks proper to pass a general order agreeably to which allowances for dower hereafter shall be made.5
‘A healthy widow, not exceeding thirty years, shall be allowed one-sixth of the net amount of sales; if above thirty and not exceeding thirty-seven, one-seventh; above thirty-seven and not exceeding forty-five, one-eighth; above forty-five and not exceeding fifty, one-ninth ; above fifty and not exceeding fifty-five, one-tenth; above fifty-five and not exceeding sixty, one-eleventh; above sixty and not exceeding sixty-five, one-twelfth; above sixty-five and not exceeding seventy, one-sixteenth; after that age all allowed one-twentieth.’
Some time after which, in the year 1804, the subject was again taken into consideration by Chancellor Hanson, when he thought proper to alter the graduation of the allowance to widows. ‘From the table and calculations,’ says he, ‘taken from Simpson’s Algebra,
On the 14th day of December, 1819, Clement Dorsey and Samuel Chapman, filed their bill in this court against Charles S. Smith, in which bill, among various other circumstances, it was stated, that Henry A. Smith, on the 17th of July, 1802, made his last will in which he said, ‘I do hereby give and bequeath to my said wife Dicandia S. Smith, during her natural life, all the land whereon I now live, near and adjoining Benedict, Leonardtown, in Charles county.’ And again, ‘After the death of my beloved wife Dicandia S. Smith, I give to my brother Charles S. Smith, all my land where I now live adjoining Benedict, Leonardtown, in Charles county, to him and his heirs for ever. My will is, that in one year after my brother enters into the possession of the above land, he pay to my sisters Margaret and Mary Wheatly, or to their heirs, five hundred pounds current money ($1,333 33 J) each, for the due performance of which I hereby make the said land liable.’ After which Henry A. Smith died leaving his widow, devisee, and legatees then alive, and his widow then and ever since a resident of Charles county. The plaintiff Dorsey married the widow Dicandia, and purchased of the defendant Charles S. Smith, the remainder so devised to him clear of all charge of the legacies for the payment of which it was so made liable. But the defendant having failed to satisfy those legacies, the plaintiff Dorsey, on the 17th February, 1817, bought one of them for the sum of $1,101, and claimed a credit for that amount on the bond by which he and the plaintiff Chapman, were bound to the defendant for the purchase money of the estate in remainder.
On the 9th of December, 1823, the auditor made and filed a report in which he says. ‘For the legacy bought by the complainant Dorsey, he has credited a sum, $560 22, as with simple interest for twenty-three years, the probable duration of Mrs. Dorsey’s life and one year after, would amount to A500; (1,333 33 §,)
This is an instance of a reversionary payment; and, being a legacy charged upon real estate, would, according to the English law, and perhaps also according to our law, but for a single expression of the will, have lapsed for the benefit of the inheritance, if the legatee had died before the day of payment; and consequently, in that case, to ascertain its value on the 17th of February, 1817, it would have been not only necessary to deduct from it the value of the life of the person until whose death it was not to he paid,"but also the value of the legatee’s chance of living until the day of payment.
Here, however, was presented to the court a case for ascertaining the present value of a reversionary payment. In which case, as in all others relative to the value of a life interest, the important point, from which the inquiry must set out, is, that of the proper expectation of life of the person upon whose existence the interest depends, or after whose death the sum is to become payable; and, that being determined, every thing else must be the result of calculation.
It will be seen by adverting to the preceding tables, that the expectation of life from which, in this case, the auditor might have-set out, ranges from nineteen to thirty-one years, according to the table from which Mrs. Dorsey’s expectation of life was taken.
Upon this case t wo questions arose. First. Whether the plaintiff Dorsey, was to be credited for the whole amount he paid for the legacy ? Secondly. If not with that amount, but with its true value on the 17th of February, 1817, when he bought it, then; How was that value to be ascertained ?
March, 1824.
‘By the agreement the legacies are not to be satisfied by Dorsey. If, therefore, he has undertaken to satisfy them, or purchase them, as between him and Smith, he is only entitled to their worth at the time of purchase, and not to their worth when they take effect in possession. According to calculations by which the extent of a widow’s dower in land, when converted into money, and by which legacies to be paid after a life estate, are regulated, the legacy purchased by Dorsey was only worth $560 22; indeed by the English rule, only $349 06. But as that rule is founded on compound interest, on the principle that the interest should, as there it may, be immediately vested, although wre adopt the time at which it is most probable the right to receive the legacy will arrive, yet its value is not come at by compound, but by simple interest; and by that rule Dorsey can only claim, in addition to the two payments, the sum of $560 22.’
From this decision of the Chancellor the plaintiffs appealed, and the same questions were submitted to the tribunal of the last resort for determination.
June, 1826.
‘The consideration of the
‘By what rule is its value to be estimated ? The Chancellor, in his decree, has adopted that value which was ascertained by the auditor by a reference to Doctor Halley's table of observations, which have been used in England for the purpose of ascertaining the value of life annuities, and reversionary interests. These tables are framed upon long and accurate observations on the bills of mortality in England, and in other places; and may not be an unsafe guide for the purpose in the region or latitude for which they were calculated. But the probability of the duration or human life, cannot be the same in every latitude and climate. In the one it may be prolonged to the greatest age, in the other abbreviated to what, in a more healthy region, would be considered as but a middle age; and even, indeed, in the same district of country the chance for the duration of life is by no means the same. Thus would tables, suited for the lowlands of Louisiana, furnish any index of the duration of human life in the highlands of Maryland ? And, even in our own state, could any dependence be placed in the calculation of the value of an annuity, or of a reversion expectant upon a life, which would say, that as great a probability existed for the duration of human life amid the marshes of the Chesapeake Bay, as in the mountains of Allegany ? These observations will be found to be verified by an examination of Dr. Halley's tables, as suited to different parts of England, and to places on the continent. Whether these tables, upon which the Chancellor’s decree is founded, are suitable to this state, could only be told by a long series of observations here, which not
The manifest discordances of the rules which have been laid down, or adopted for the. government of this court, in cases of this kind, require some further remarks. The legislative rule, in regard to dower, which directs that, in certain specified cases, not more than one-seventh nor less than a tenth of the net proceeds of the sale of the whole estate, shall be awarded to the widow in lieu of her dower, fixes an arbitrary limitation, the reason of which is not apparent. As early marriages in our country are common, there must be many instances of young widows; and consequently, this legislative rule must embrace all cases of widowhood from fifteen to eighty years of age; with an expectation of life, according to Finlaison’s tables, ranging from forty-seven to no more than six years; and yet, bound by this rule, the court can, on the one hand, award to the life of forty-seven years expectation no more than a seventh ; and on the other must give to the life of only six years expectation, not less than one-tenth of the whole net proceeds of sale. This rule thus appears from itself to be in many of its bearings unreasonable and unjust.
In all inquiries as to the present value of a life interest in real estate, it is indispensably necessary to bear in mind the distinction between the interest of the particular tenant, and that of him in remainder or reversion; and also to take especial care, that neither should have awarded to him any thing which may properly be considered a part of the value of the estate which belongs to the other. Thus, supposing the whole estate were sold for $9,000; that sum would represent the entire value of the whole, including both interests, as well that of the tenant in dower, who was enti
It should also be recollected, in all cases of this kind, where it may be required, out of the purchase money or value of the whole, to separate the value of the particular estate from that of the inheritance, that it is necessary, in the first place, to attend to the true legal extent of the particular estate. Tenants in dower, by the courtesy, &c. are not allowed to commit waste; that is, they cannot cut and sell timber; open, and work unopened mines, &c.; and being restrained from deriving any such profits from the estate, the value of it, in regard to all such profits, properly forms a part of the price of the reversion or remainder; and the value of such profits also represents that, which is the difference in price between a particular estate the tenant of which is, and one the tenant of which is not impeachable for waste. But this distinction does not appear to have been at all attended to in making the calculations
It appears, that the present value of a widow’s dower was calculated for the Chancery rule at compound interest; because in England the present value of such estates, it is said, is calculated upon the ground of compound interest. But then it is laid down in an English adjudication, that as the computation of compound interest proceeds upon the idea, that the interest is paid upon the exact day and immediately laid out, which is impossible, it is sufficient to compute compound interest at four per cent, or at something less than the legal rate of interest,
It has been shewn by reference to good authority, that the observations of the rate of mortality at Breslaw, from which Dr. Halley constructed his tables of the probability, and of the expectation of human life, have been found to be so entirely inaccurate, that they have never, in any case, been resorted to for many years past. And it has also, in like manner, been shewn, that the observations of the waste of life in London, from which Mr. Simpson formed his tables, were, in so many respects, erroneous, that they have been considered as very unsafe guides in calculating the value of human life even in London itself; and as totally unfit for use, in making an estimate of the value of life any where else. But it appears, that all the calculations for the Chancery rule were taken from the observations of London, and the tables of Mr. Simpson founded on those observations. This therefore is a fourth element in which that rale is essentially wrong.
It is well known, that in our country early marriages are common ; and it appears from the observations of Dr. Grenville, that even in England, of eight hundred and seventy-six females, thirty of them had been married at or before fifteen years of age. Therefore as it may fairly he presumed, that there must be a great number of instances of widows under thirty years of age; and as according to Finlaisorfs tables, the expectation of female life, between
In England, and indeed, as it would seem, all over Europe, for a great length of time past, the most usual, or perhaps the only method of coming at the fee simple value of land has been, first to ascertain the fair rental value or price, by the year; and to multiply that by the number of years purchase which the existing demand for land will bear in the given situation at the time. The ratio between the rental and the sale value of land, in England, varies from twenty to forty years; that is, a parcel of land the fair rental value of which is one hundred pounds, is worth, in common cases, from two thousand to four thousand pounds. In England a very large proportion of the lands are rented out by the fee simple owners; and therefore, it may not be difficult there, in this mode, to make an estimate of the fee simple value of any estate; either from the rent of itself; or, by analogy, from the rent of other similar estates in its immediate vicinity. But here, more than nine-tenths of the actual occupants and cultivators are also the owners of the fee simple ; and, hence resort cannot be so readily had, here as in England, to the rental for the purpose of computing the fee simple value. But here, as in England, it appears, that so far as the rent or annual price can be ascertained, the ratio between the rental and the sale value ranges very wide; perhaps from fifteen to thirty-five years purchase.
In the case now under consideration, it appears, that the land actually sold for something more than twenty-six years purchase, and was valued, by the commissioners, at more than twenty-nine years purchase. This mode of estimating the value of property, by so many years purchase, has been applied not only to life estates and terms for years in land; but to annuities, terms for years, and life interests of all kinds,
It has been stated, that where the value of the fee simple has been properly ascertained, that of any inferior holding may be readily found from it by means of the general rules of calculation. But if that were so, then there could be no difficulty, in any case, like this, where the value of the whole had been ascertained by an actual sale under a decree, to ascertain by calculation, when the case again came before the court for further directions, the value of any particular estate which had been carved out of it. But such a sale of the whole determines nothing as to the proportion between the particular estate and the reversion or remainder; and therefore that proportion is left to be ascertained just as if no such sale had been made. In such cases, the particular estate is, like the fee simple, to be valued by a computation of so many years
. Estates for life have an absolute, but uncertain limit. To ascertain the duration of such estates recourse must be had to some table, shewing the expectation of life, to find what may be deemed the length of the life of the tenant for life. And then a calculation is made, from the rental value, of the sale value of the estate for life of such a duration. In England, as we have seen, it was formerly the rule to consider an estate for life as equal to one-third of the whole, and to charge it with a proportion of all incumbrances accordingly. But for some time past that rule has been abolished; and the best life is not now reckoned to be more than equal to one-third of the whole; and all such estates are estimated below that at their actual worth, upon a consideration of the age and health of the tenant for life, and of all other circumstances.
In some of our revenue laws, as has been shewn, a life estate . and a term for years of not less than fifteen years duration was allowed to be computed as equal in value to one-half of the fee simple; but those laws have been disapproved of, and long since repealed. By the legislative rule, which allows to a widow, not more than a seventh nor less than a tenth, it appears, that by a seventh she will get nearly one-half of the net proceeds of the sale of that third of which she. is entitled to dower. Thus, for example, in this case, the one-third of the net amount of the purchase money is $12,418, and the widow has had awarded to her $5,265; which is not very far short of one-half of the price of that portion of the land which was charged with her dower; and even if she had been eighty years of age the court could have awarded to her no less than a tenth, or $3,725, which is not much below one-third of the price of so much of the estate as was charged with her dower. According to the Chancery rule, one-sixth of the whole, or $6,209, would have been awarded to her as a widow of no more than thirty years of age, which would be exactly one-half of the purchase money of the land charged with her dower. And from the principles of the Chancery rule it necessarily follows, that a tenant for life of the whole of no more than thirty years of age is entitled to one-half of the whole net proceeds of sale.
After having thus traced this important subject through a long and devious course of judicial and .legislative proceedings, it ap
The legislative rule, now in force in regard to dower, directs that where lands are sold for the benefit of infants, as in this instance;
As to all cases of dower, not embraced by the legislative rale, this court is governed by its own rule; which as it now stands, directs, that, cthe allowance to a healthy woman in lieu of her right of dower in land sold under decrees, to be as follows: If under thirty years of age, one-sixth; if above thirty and under thirty-six, two-thirteenths; if above thirty-five and under forty,
There being no difference between a tenant in dower and any other tenant for life; except, that the one is entitled to no more than a third and the other is entitled to the whole for life; and there having been no distinction made in relation to this matter between particular tenants who are and those who are not punishable for waste. And the rule of this court, in relation to dower, being a much nearer approximation to truth and justice than that of the Legislature; and having been approved of by the Court of Appeals, and directed to be applied, by analogy, to ascertain the present value of a reversionary payment, it has been deemed proper to follow out its principles, and to consider it as a general rule in regard to estates for life in land, and life interests of all descriptions, other than dower, or those embraced by any legislative rule, of which this court may be called upon to ascertain the present value; that is to say,
The allowance to a healthy person in lieu of his or her life interest in the whole to be as follows; if under thirty years of age, one-half; if above thirty and under thirty-six, nineteen-fortieths; if above thirty-five and under forty, eleven-twenty-fifths; if above forty and under forty-five, two-fifths; if above forty-five and under fifty-one, three-eighths; if above fifty-one and under sixty-six, one-third; if above fifty-six and under sixty-one, three-tenths; if above sixty-one and under sixty-seven, one-fourth; if above sixty-seven and under seventy-two, one-fifth; if above seventy-two and under seventy-seven, one-sixth; if above seventy-seven, three-twentieths of the net proceeds.
In all cases where there is a widow, or particular tenant who wishes to obtain a proportion of the proceeds of sale in lieu of such life interest, it has hitherto been and must still be regarded as the practice, that before the case can be sent to the auditor to state an account distributing the proceeds, such particular tenant should bring the case before the court by petition, by motion, or by submitting it to the Chancellor, with an affidavit of some disinterested and credible witness stating the age, health, and condi
In this case the dower right to a part of the estate was extinguished by the sales made on the first day of May, 1829; and the order of the 17th of July, 1829, was made on the affidavit of the age, See. of the widow as of that day of sale. But as the residue of the estate was not' sold, and the dower right thereby extinguished until the 17th of December, 1830; the age of the widow had thus far advanced, and there might have been such a material change in her health, &c. as would have made a great difference in the amount to be awarded to her according to the Chancery rule; and therefore, there should have been, according to that rule, another affidavit as to her age, Sec. But as this is a case governed by the limited legislative rule, and no objection is made, such further proof, as to her age, &c. as of the day of the last sale may be dispensed with.
Considering the life interest as having been sold and extinguished by the sale of the whole; when that sale has been finally ratified, the real estate is thereby converted, and the proceeds thereof vested absolutely in those then entitled to them; and consequently, if the particular tenant should die after that time, his or her share of the proceeds, according to age, &c., on the day of sale, will not, as the particular estate would have done, revert or sink, but go to the assignee or legal representatives of the deceased particular tenant.
Whereupon it is Ordered, that the foregoing report of the auditor be, and the same is hereby ratified and confirmed; and the trustee is directed to apply the proceeds accordingly, with a due proportion of interest.
Crabtree v. Bramble, 3 Atk. 687.
Doughty v. Bull, 2 P. Will. 320; Lechmere v. Carlisle, 3 P. Will. 211; Thornton v. Hawley, 10 Ves. 129; Ashby v. Palmer, 1 Meriv. 296.
Inwood v. Twyne, Amb. 417; S. C. 2 Eden, 148 ; Lee v. Brown, 4 Ves. 368.
Rook v. Worth, 1 Ves. 461; Ex parte Bromfield, 1 Ves., jun., 460 ; Oxenden v. Compton, 2 Ves., jun., 73.
Winchelsea v. Norcliffe, 1 Vern. 435; Witter v. Witter, 3 P. Will. 99; Kirk v. Webb, Prec. Chan. 84; Terry v. Terry, Prec. Chan. 273; Mason v. Day, Prec. Chan. 319; Pierson v. Shore, 1 Atk. 480; Sergeson v. Sealey, 2 Atk. 413; Maynwaring v. Maynwaring, 3 Atk. 414; Rook v. Worth, 1 Ves. 461; Inwood v. Twyne, Amb. 417; S. C. 2 Eden, 148; Gibson v. Scudamore, 1 Dick. 45; Oxenden v. Compton, 2 Ves., jun., 73; Ashburton v. Ashburton, 6 Ves. 6; Ware v. Polhill, 11 Ves. 278 ; Ex parte Phillips, 19 Ves. 120 ; Webb v. Shaftsbury, 6 Mad. 100.
Somerville v. Somerville, 5 Ves. 750; Potinger v. Wightman, 3 Meriv. 68; Desesbats v. Berquier, 1 Bin. 336.
Dennis v. Badd, 1 Chan. Ca. 156; Ex parte Grimstone, Amb. 706; Shrewsbury v. Shrewsbury, 3 Bro. C. C. 125; S. C. 1 Ves., jun., 233; Chetwynd v. Fleetwood, 4 Bro. P. C. 435.
Ex parte Ludlow, 2 Atk. 407; Ex parte Simon Degge, 4 Bro. C. C. 238, note; Oxenden v. Compton, 2 Ves., jun., 73.
Rook v. Worth, 1 Ves. 461; Anandale v. Anandalo, 2 Ves. 383; Tullit v. Tullit, Amb. 370; Ex parte Ludlow, 2 Atk. 407; Ex parte Bromfield, 1 Ves., jun., 462; S. C. 3 Bro. C. C. 510 ; Oxendon v. Compton, 2 Ves., jun., 70; S. C. 4 Bro. C. C. 231.
Chandos v. Talbot, 2 P. Will. 606; Story v. Windsor, 2 Atk. 630 ; Pulteney v. Warren, 6 Ves. 89; Rook v. Worth, 1 Ves. 461; Tullit v. Tullit, Amb. 370; Oxenden v. Compton, 2 Ves., jun., 70; S. C. 4 Bro. C. C. 231; Ex parte Phillips, 19 Ves. 119 ; Stoughton v. Leigh, 1 Taunt. 402.
Bertie v. Abingdon, 3 Meriv. 568.
Taylor v. Philips, 1 Ves. 229; S. C. 2 Ves. 23; Belt’s Supp. 120, 258; Harvey v. Ashley, 3 Atk. 613; Russel v. Russel, 12 Cond. Chan. Rep. 258; In the matter of—, a minor, 12 Cond. Chan. Rep. 259; Mackworth’s case, 1 Vern. 461.
Exparte Phillips, 19 Ves. 123.
1785, ch. 72, s. 6; 1800, ch. 67,s. 5; 1828, ch. 26, s. 3; 1829, ch. 222; 1833, ch. 150.
1818, ch. 193, s. 8; Waring v. Waring, 2 Bland, 676.
Doughty v. Bull, 2 P. Will. 320 ; Terry v. Terry, Prec. Chan. 273; Inwood v. Tyne, 2 Eden, 148 ; Webb v. Shaftsbury, 6 Mad. 100.
Chambers v. Chambers, Eitzgib. 127; S. C. Mosely, 333 ; Terry v. Terry, Prec. Chan. 274 ; Harrison v. Hart, Comyns, 394; Rees’ Cyclo. art. John Law; Collyer on Partnership, 618; Chalmer v. Bradley, 1 Jac. & Walk. 59.
Hoye v. Penn, 1 Bland, 41, note.
Anandale v. Anandale, 2 Ves. 383; Oxenden v. Compton, 4 Bro. C. C. 235, note ; Oxenden v. Compton, 2 Ves., jan., 77.
Ringgold’s case, 1 Bland, 26.
Doughty v. Bull, 2 P. Will. 320 ; Partridge v. Dorsey, 3 H. & J. 307, note, 322.
Goodier v. Ashton, 18 Ves. 83; Mondey v. Mondey, 1 Ves. & Bea. 223; Brookfield v. Bradley, 4 Cond. Chan. Rep. 298 ; Scholefield v. Heafield, 11 Cond. Chan. Rep. 528; Powel Mort. 983, 985.
Jones v. Betsworth. — This bill was filed on the 3d of September, 1795, by Thomas Jones against Samuel Betsworfh, for the recovery of a mortgage debt by a sale of the mortgaged property. The defendant answered, and the case was brought on for a final hearing.
17th January, 1798. — Hanson, Chancellor. — The said cause standing ready for decision, and being submitted; the bill, answer and all other proceedings were by the Chancellor read and considered; and it appearing to him, that the mortgage in the bill mentioned was duly executed, that there is due to the complainant, on the said mortgage, the sum by him stated to be due, with interest from the time of settlement; that it is reasonable to have the said sum, with interest and costs, raised by a sale of the mortgaged lands ; unless the defendant, within such time as shall be allowed by this court, shall discharge the said principal, interest and costs.
It is thereupon Decreed, that unless the defendant, on the 9th day of February, 1799, shall bring into this court to be paid to the complainant, or shall pay to the complainant the costs of this suit, and the sum of £771 18s. Id., which is the sum to be then due for the said principal of £777 19s. 2d., with interest from the 9th day of May, 1793, deducting the sum of £274 9s. 0d., paid on the 30th day of April, 1794; or unless the said defendant shall at any time before the said 9th day of February, 1799, bring into this court to be paid to the complainant, or pay to the said complainant, his costs of suit, together with the aforesaid sum of £777 19s. 2d., with interest as aforesaid, until the time of bringing in, deducting the paj'meut as aforesaid, made on the 30th of April, 1794, the mortgaged lands, viz: Betsworth’s Choice, 52£ acres; Providence, 215J acres; Colepit, SO acres; Baldridge, 80 acres ; and another tract, 2£ acres, lying in Somerset county, or so much thereof as shall be necessary, shall be sold for discharging the aforesaid principal, interest and costs. And Lambert Hyland, of said county, is hereby appointed trustee, &c. And the terms of sale shall be that the purchase money, at the election of the purchaser or purchasers, shall either be paid down to the trustee immediately after the sale, or be brought into this court, or paid to the said trustee immediately after the Chancellor’s ratification of the sale, which cannot be absolutely valid until ratified by the Chancellor, &c.
In consideration of the defendant’s allegation on oath, respecting the value of the lands, and of the payment by him made, as stated by the complainant, the Chancellor has allowed a considerable lime, as is usual in such cases, for paying or bringing in the principal, interest and costs, before the sale for ready money can take place. It is to be remarked, that it is not in the Chancellor’s power, without
It is therefore further Decreed and Provided, that in case the complainant and defendant shall each subscribe a writing expressing his consent to the sale of the aforesaid lands on a credit of six months, the said trustee, after filing his bond and giving notice as aforesaid, may proceed with all diligence to a sale of the lands, either in one lot or parcels as aforesaid, at public auction, on the terms of the purchaser’s giving bond to the said trustee, as such, for paying the purchase money with interest, within six months from the time of sale. And if a sale on credit shall take place agreeably to the directions of the decree, the trustee shall, in every respect, pursue the directions herein before given relative to the return execution of a deed, and bringing money into court. He shall likewise return to this court the bond or bonds by him taken, and the writing expressing the consent of the parties to the sale on credit.
Immediately after signing the above as the decree, the following was subjoined : 17th January, 1798. — Hanson, Chancellor. — It appears on examination, that a mistake hath been made with respect to the debt to be due on the 10th of February next. However, the mistake could not be material, unless the defendant should actually bring the money into court on the said day without any discovery of the mistake. For in case the defendant shall not oifer to bring in on that day, it appears by the decree, that the sum to be raised by a sale is £777 19s. 2d., with interest from the 9th of May, 1793, after deducting £274 9s. 0d., as paid 30th of April, 1794. The sum to be due on the 10th of February next, is £706 19s. Bd.
After which a sale of the mortgaged property having been made and reported; and the usual order allowing cause to be shewn why it should not be confirmed having been published, the case was again submitted.
27th March, 1800. — Hanson, Chancellor. — No objection having been made to the sale of the trustee Lambert Hyland, although notice, &c.; and the complainant having by writing expressed his approbation ; it is Adjudged and Ordered, that the said sale made by the said trustee, as stated in his report, be and it is hereby absolutely ratified and confirmed.
It is further Ordered, that the said trustee for his whole trouble and expense, incurred in the execution of his trust, be allowed the sum of thirty pounds, out of the money to arise from the sale; that the sum of £ 20 12s. 1 %d., be applied to the discharge of costs as taxed by the register of the court; that the residue of the said money be paid to the complainant Thomas Jones, towards the discharge of the debt to him due on the mortgage stated in the bill. But as the complainant is the purchaser of the land sold, and passed his bond for the purchase money, there is no necessity for the money to be actually paid. And it is Ordered, that on his giving his receipt in writing to be here lodged, for the said residue, and on paying to the said trustee the said sum of thirty pounds, the said bond shall be given up to him to be cancelled, and the said trustee shall execute to him a deed, as by the original decree is directed. — M. S.
Such has always been the law of England ; and in Maryland the same principles of equity have prevailed, in so far as to allow, for the same reasons, on a decree to foreclose or sell, the further time of twelve or eighteen months to the debtor to make payment. — (Carroll v. Belt,1767; Burt v. The Commissioners of Washington, 1806; Craig v. Rusk, 1807.) — But as I never could satisfy myself of the propriety of thus extending the credit beyond the date of the decree, to the prejudice of the creditor, to whom mere legal interest could rarely be an adequate compensation for the delay of the payment of his money; (Reynolds v. Pitt, 19 Ves. 140;) and no such further indulgence being allowed to the debtor in mortgage cases any where but in England, where the practice of granting it has been regretted, and said to be unreasonable.— (2 Mad. Chan. 492.) — I have in all cases deemed it proper to limit the indulgence to one month, or to as short a time as was compatible with the observance of the rule, as one which had been expressly recognized by the General Assembly; (1785, ch. 72, s. 3;) since there can be no more just grounds for postponing the immediate execution of a decree in equity for the recovery of a debt in a mortgage case, than in suspending execution on a judgment at common law, in an action of debt on a bond under a stay law, which has been held to be unconstitutional, because of its impairing the obligation of the contract. — ( Campbell’s Case, 2 Bland, 237.)
But, in regard to infants, it has been declared, that where any person under twenty-one years of age, shall be possessed of any real estate mortgaged for securing the payment of any debt, and the day of payment has elapsed, the Chancellor may decree a sale of the mortgaged premises, or such part thereof as may be necessary to discharge the debt; or may decree a foreclosure of the whole or such part of the mortgaged premises as may be sufficient to satisfy the debt; and that too, as it would seem, without allowing the infant a day to shew cause ; or requiring the plaintiff, as formerly, to give bond to refund or reconvey, on its being made to appear within one year after his arrival at age, that the decree was erroneous or
It appears to have long been the understanding of the profession and of this court, as indicated in the above case of Jones v. Betsworth, and in other cases, that the proceeds of the sale of the mortgaged property should be first applied to the payment of the costs, commissions and expenses, and the balance only to the satisfaction of the mortgage debt; or discounted from the debt, should the mortgagee himself be the purchaser, leaving the mortgagee to proceed otherwise against the mortgagor for the recovery of so much of the debt as was thus left unsatisfied._ (Ridgely v. Belt, 1805; Murdock’s case, 2 Bland, 464, 468.) — But in England it is otherwise; there, according to a recent decision, the whole amount of the proceeds of the sale must be first applied to the satisfaction of the mortgage debt._ ( Upperton v. Harrison, 10 Cond. Chan. Rep. 139; Ellison v. Wright, 3 Cond. Chan. Rep. 482.)
Culpepper v. Aston, 2 Chan. Cas. 115; Oxenden v. Compton, 2 Ves., jun., 73; Maugham v. Mason, 1 Ves. & Bea. 415; Jones v. Jones, 1 Bland, 452.
1785, ch. 72, s. 12; 1820, ch. 191; Corse v. Polk, 1 Bland, 233, note.
Barlow v. Grant, 1 Vern. 255; Franklin v. Green, 2 Vern. 137; Harvey v. Harvey, 2 P. Will. 21; Davies v. Austen, 1 Ves., jun., 248; S. C. 3 Bro. C. C. 178 ; Lee v. Brown, 4 Ves. 362 ; Walker v. Wetherell, 6 Ves. 474: Beasley v. Magrath, 2 Scho. & Lefr. 35 ; Ex parte Darlington, 1 Ball & Bea. 240 ; Ex parle M'Key, 1 Ball & Bea. 405; Ex parte Green, 1 Jac. & Walk. 253; Hooper v. Royster, 1 Mun. 119.
Hanson v. Chapman. — This bill was filed on the 8th of August, 1796, by Samuel Hanson and others against Henry H. Chapman. It states, that the late Samuel Hanson, by his will, bequeathed certain legacies to the plaintiffs; and on the death of his grand-daughter Anna H. Chapman, and his daughter Eleanor Chapman, without issue, directed that his real estate should be sold for the payment of those legacies. That he appointed George Lee and Henry H. Chapman, his executors, and authorized them to make the sale; that Lee had renounced the executorship, and it was doubtful whether Chapman alone could sell and make a good title; and that the testator’s grand-daughter and daughter were both dead without issue. Prayer to appoint a trustee to make the sale, &c.
Henry H. Chapman, who alone was made defendant, answered, admitted the facts, and consented to a decree as prayed. Whereupon, it was, on the 8th of October, 1796, Decreed, in the usual form, that Henry H. Chapman make the sale, &c. Under which decree sales were made and ratified accordingly. After which, on a considerable amount of the proceeds being brought in, they were, by the direction of the court distributed among the legatees of full age.
11 ih September, 1801. — Hanson, Chancellor. — On the petition of several of the said devisees, it is Ordered, that the auditor state the sums of which each of them is entitled to out of the principal money arising from the said sale; and that he state the sum which each devisee is entitled to receive of the money brought into court, charging him or her with the payments already made to him or her. Out of the said money is to be deducted the trustee’s commission, hereby allowed him of £175, exclusive of all except personal expenses. And in making these statements he is to take into consideration the specific and contingent legacies given by the said Hanson’s will. It is the intent of this order, that if there be money brought in sufficient, after the aforesaid deductions, to pay unto each devisee of lawful age the proportion of the principal money to him or her due, the same shall be paid. The register is hereby directed to receive any money arising from the sale to be offered by the trustee; and, with the treasurer’s leave, deposite the same in the Western ¡Shore treasury, subject to future order. And it is the intent of this order, that the said money be brought into the account to be stated.
After which the case was again brought before the court at the instance of one of the infant legatees.
29i/i October, 1801. — Hanson, Chancellor. — It is represented to the Chancellor that William Baker, one of the children of Mildred Baker, daughter of the said Hanson, and mentioned in his last will, is nearly twenty years of age, and engaged in the study of physic; and that it wifi be of great importance to him to receive immediately the money to which he is entitled under his grandfather’s will. The Chancellor being satisfied of the truth of the said representation, and that the inte-
On the 25th of November, 1801, an order was passed in favour of Grafton D. Hanson, another infant legatee, similar to the foregoing. After which the case was again brought before the court at the instance of a purchaser.
26tA May, 1803. — Hanson, Chancellor. — Whereas, the decree for a sale In this cause passed, directs, that on payment of the whole purchase money, the trustee, Henry H. Chapman, shall convey to the purchaser in íbe ; and whereas, it is stated, that several of the purchasers have assigned; and that it would be convenient for the trustee to convey to the assignees. It is Ordered, that the said trustee, on the receipt of the whole purchase money, and on being satisfied, that the purchaser hath assigned his purchase; may, on application of the assignee, at his, the said trustee’s discretion, convey to the said assignee in fee; and provided an assignment of the purchase hath actually been made fairly, and without fraud and imposition, the conveyance shall operate in the same manner as if it had been made by the direction of the original decree in this cause. The Chancellor has been applied to for a decree directing a conveyance by the said trustee on the part of a particular assignee; hut the Chancellor conceives, that he cannot, with propriety, make an ex parte decree binding on a person who is no party in any suit here depending. But in case of a conveyance, under the foregoing order, to a fair assignee, there is no doubt, that the assignee’s title will be as good as if a conveyance had been made by the trustee to the purchaser, and a conveyance afterwards made by the purchaser to the assignee. — M. S.
1715, ch. 39, s. 9 and 10; 1729, ch. 24, s. 12 and 13.
1785, ch. 80, s. 9.
1798, ch. 101, sub ch. 12, s. 7 and 10 ; Brodess v. Thompson, 2 H. &. G. 120.
Goltier’s Case. — This petition was filed on the 18th of December, 1810, by John Goltier, in the Orphans Court of Cecil county; and was soon afterwards, with the proceedings thereon in that court, removed to and filed here. The petition stated, that the petitioner had two children, hy his late wife, who were infants ; that in right of their mother, they had become entitled, by descent, to an undivided interest in a grist-mill, and about one hundred and forty acres of land; that after consulting with the petitioner, the other heirs, deeming it highly advantageous to all concerned, had contracted to sell the property to Alexander Scott for $6,424 25. Whereupon the petitioner prayed, that he might be enabled to convey the estate to the purchaser on behalf of his children, inasmuch as he verily believed, that such a sale would much promote the interest and welfare of his said children, and enable him to educate and support them more to their advantage than if no such sale were made.
12th December, 1810. — By the Orphans Court. — On due consideration of the allegations contained in the within petition, the court is of opinion, that the sale prayed for is to the advantage of the aforesaid Francis and Elizabeth, and should be confirmed; and that the petitioner John Goltier he authorized to make a conveyance of that part of his wards’ real estate which they have by descent from their cousin Jonathan Booth, and mentioned in the within petition. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, this twelfth day of December, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and ten. David Smith, register.
18th December, 1810. — Kilty, Chancellor. — Under the power vested in this court by the act of 1798, ch. 101, sub ch. 12, s. 10, the .above order of the Orphans Court is approved.— Chancery Proceedings, 1810, fol. 563.
November, 1781, ch. 4.
November, 1781, ch. 15; 1804, ch. 10.
1784, ch. 28.
1784, ch. 31; 1794, ch. 5; Evroy v. Nicholas, 2 Eq. Ca, Abr. 488; P— v. Bell, 6 Ves. 419; In the matter of Starkie, 8 Cond. Chan. Rep. 79.
1784, ch. 51; 1801, ch. 82; 1802, ch. 67; 1803, ch. 91; 1810, ch. 58 and 71; 1811, ch. 88; Waring v. Waring, 2 Bland, 673.
1791, ch. 48.
1792, ch. 28.
1805, ch. 28 and 33; 1809, ch. 21 and 72; 1810, ch. 57, 74 and 158; 1811, ch. 95, 149 and 209; 1812, ch. 83, 91, 175 and 186; 1813, ch. 19, 29, 54, 80, 93, 151 and 152; 1814, ch. 31, 44, 74 and 90; 1815, ch. 31, 117, 124, 130, 134 and 136; 1825, ch. 88; Campbell’s case, 2 Bland, 209.
1816, ch. 154; 1818, ch. 133, s. 2, and ch. 193, s. 7, 12 and 13; 1S19, ch. 183; Tilly v. Tilly, 2 Bland, 436.
Seys v. Price, 9 Mod. 220; Hearle v. Greenbank, 3 Atk. 695; Ware v. Polhill, 11 Ves. 278; Ex parte Philips, 19 Ves. 122.
The Legislature has since authorized the real estate, chattel real, or trust interest of an infant to be sold, leased or mortgaged, 1831, ell, 311, s. 2,3 and 12; 1835, ch. 380, s. 9.
Waring v. Waring, 2 Bland, 673.
Corrie’s case, 2 Bland, 489.
1816, ch. 164, s. 1, 6 and 8; 1818, ch. 133, s. 2.
It is staled in this petition, that these infants had * no other source of revenue than this farm;’ whence it might be inferred, that they had no other estate whatever. Yet by the act of 1832, eh. 192; and their petition, filed here on the 28th of May,
Doughty v. Bull, 2 P. Will. 322; Oates v. Brydon, 3 Burr, 1898.
Since extended to a remainder, by 1831, ch. 311, s. 9; and to trusts for infants, and to chattels real, by 1835, ch. 380, s. 9.
Leigh & Dal. on Conversion, 87, 147.
Abell v. Heathcote, 4 Bro. C. C. 284; Oates v. Brydon, 3 Barr, 1898__
But if all the heirs be minors, the estate cannot be sold by any preceding ground merely on the provisions of the act to direct descents, until the eldest arrives at age, 1820, ch. 191, s. 9.
1816, ch. 154, s. 10.
1819, ch. 183, s. 2.
Bexwell v. Christie, Cowp. 395; Howard v. Castle, 6 T. R. 642; Crowder v. Austin, 13 Com. Law Rep. 11; Moncrieff v. Goldsborough, 4 H. & McH. 282; Bramley v. Alt, 3 Ves. 620; Conolly v. Parsons, 3 Ves. 625, note; Townshend v. Stangroom, 6 Ves. 338; Smith v. Clarke, 12 Ves. 477.
Sug. Ven. Pur. 16; Doolin v. Ward, 6 John, Rep. 194.
Conolly v. Parsons, 3 Ves. 625, note; Smith v. Clarke, 12 Ves. 477; Jervoise v. Clarke, 1 Jac. & Wal. 389; Brooker v. Collier, 3 Cond. Cha. Rep. 439; Shelf. on Lunatics, 366, 368.
Kilty v. Quynn. — This bill was filed on the 4th of June, 1804, by John Kilty against John Quynn, and Kitty, Betsey, William, Allen, and Casper Quynn, the five infant children of Allen Quynn, Junior, deceased, and John Gassaway, a minor, and Eliza Gassaway, children of Polly Gassaway, deceased. The bill stated that Allen Quynn the elder being seised in fee simple of certain tracts, lots, and parcels of land, made his last will according to law and died, by which will he devised, with some particular dispositions, the whole of his estate, the one-fourth part to his son, the defendant John Quynn; one other fourth part to his son-in-law this plaintiff; one other fourth part to the, infant defendants the children of his late son Allen Quynn, Junior; and the other fourth part to his grandchildren the defendants John Gassaway and Eliza Gassaway, son and daughter of his late daughter Polly Gassaway; and appointed this plaintiff and John Gassaway his executors. That some of these devisees being minors, a division could not be effected without the interposition of this court, and without a sale of the property thus devised to them. Whereupon it was prayed, that a sale might be ordered; a .division made; and that the plaintiff might have such relief as was suited to the nature of his case, &c.
18t/s February, 1805. — Hanson, Chancellor. — Decreed, that the lands and premises in the bill mentioned, together with any other land that Allen Quynn may have, by his last will, devised to the complainant and the defendants, he sold, and the money arising therefrom, under the direction of the Chancellor, after paying the costs of this suit, bo divided amongst and paid to the respective parties according to their several interests; that John Johnson, who is recommended by more than one-half in value of the persons interested, be appointed trustee to make the sale; that the course and manner of his proceeding he as follows, &c. &c., the sales to be on credit, bond with approved surety to be given to the trustee as such, for the payment of the purchase money as follows, one-fourth thereof; with interest on the same, on or before the expiration of one year from the day of sale; one other fourth thereof, with interest on the same, on or before the expiration of two years from the day of sale; one other fourth thereof; with interest on the same, on or before the expiration of three years from the day of sale; and the remaining fourth, with interest thereon, on or before the expiration of four years from the day of sale, &c. &c., and upon the approbation, ratification, and confirmation by the Chancellor, which will be, if at all, just six weeks from the day of sale; and upon receipt of the whole purchase money, and not before, the trustee by a good deed, &c. &c. The Chancellor considers the trustee as having the right or power of postponing a sale, if in the trustee’s opinion necessary; and likewise of having a bye-bidder.
The trustee Johnson reported, that he had given bond as required; and that he had on the 15lh of March, 1805, made sale of a part of the real estate of the testator. At the foot of which report there was a note in these words: ‘We the subscribers do approve of the sale made by the trustee to Mrs. Isaac Duckett, as contained in the aforegoing report, and request the Chancellor to confirm the same.’ Signed John Gassaway, guardian to Eliza and John. John Killy.
3d July, 1805. — Hanson, Chancellor.— Ordered, that the sale made by John Johnson of the real estate of the testator Allen Quynn, be absolutely ratified and confirmed ; that for his whole trouble and expense incurred, or to be incurred, in the execution of his trust, he be allowed the sum of £ 150; and that the auditor slate the application of the money arising from the sale, after deducting the said commission and costs.
The auditor reported a distribution of the proceeds of the sales, in which he awarded one-fourth of them to the plaintiff in his own right, and another fourth to him as the assignee of the defendant John Quynn.
Upon which the trustee Johnson, by his petition, staled, that he was desirous of closing his trust; and as the bonds, taken to secure the payment of the purchase money, would not become due for some time, he prayed, that he might be ordered to assign them to the several devisees in satisfaction of thoir respective shares.
10th July, 1805. — Hanson, Chancellor. — Ordered, that the trustee after receiving on each bond an equal proportion of the costs and expenses, as stated in the auditor’s report, assign to the respective parties entitled, the bonds as follows, to wit, to John Kilty the two bonds, one due on the 15th day of March, 1807, the other due on the 15th day of March, 180S; to the guardian of the children of Allen Quynn, the son,
It is declared that in case any sale shall be made on credit by direction of the Chancellor under the authority of the act of 1785, ch. 72, s. 9, he may direct any bond taken in consequence of such sale to be assigned to such mortgagee or creditor. It would seem therefore, that the assignment of the bonds here directed could not, in strictness, have been made under the authority of this act of Assembly; but as it has been held, in bankruptcy, that where a distribution is directed to be made, it may be made in kind, as well as in money, so here, an assignment of the bonds, as in this instance, may be entirely within the power of the court, and be regarded as, in many respects, the most beneficial distribution which the devisees or claimants could have. Hitchcock v. Sedgwick, 2 Vern. 158; Spurrier v. Spurrier, 1 Bland, 475; Coombs v. Jordan, post; Ex parie Boone, 2 Bland, 321; McMullin v. Burris, 2 Bland, 357.
Duvall v. Waters, 1 Bland, 569.
King v. King, 6 Ves. 172; Atkinson v. Henshaw, 2 Ves. & Bea. 85; Ball v. Oliver, 2 Ves. & Bea. 96; Beam’s Pl. Eq. 71.
Clark v. Clark, 24 January, 1822, per Johnson, Chancellor.
Shewen v. Vanderhorst, 4 Cond. Cha. Rep. 461.
Wilcocks v. Wilcock3, Amb. 421; Mitchell v. Draper, 9 Ves. 208.
Smith v. Jackson, 1 Mad. Rep. 618; Dakin v. Cope, 3 Cond. Cha. Rep. 66; Donovan v. Fricker, 4 Cond. Cha. Rep. 77.
Wilson v. Metcalfe, 1 Russ. 530.
Mackubin v. Farrall. — This bill, filed on the 25th of June, 1S23, stated, that the plaintiff George Mackubin, as trustee, had sold a tract of land to the defendant Walter Farrall for the sum of $5,656 75; for the payment of which the defendant gave bond with sureties; that the defendant had paid a small part of the purchase money; and that he, and his sureties, were then insolvent. Whereupon it was prayed, that the land might be re-sold for the payment of the balance of the purchase money. .The defendant, by his answer, said, that he had paid $720; and admitted the truth of the other facts set forth in the bill. Upon which it was, on the 8th of December, 1823, Decreed,, that the land be sold, &c.
After which the trustee by his petition, filed on the 30th of March, 1824, stated, that he had advertised the land for sale as directed by the decree, but could not sell it for want of buyers; and, that there was no prospect of his being able to sell it time enough for the purchaser to make a crop in the then present year; in the meantime the defendant was in possession, and interest was accruing on the claim upon it, and no benefit derived from the land, which was wholly insufficient to pay the amount of the claim. The trustee required to be directed whether he should rent the land for the valuation, that is, $125, &e.
30th March, 1824. — Johnson, Chancellor. — The trustee is authorized to rent the land, taking such security for the rent as he may judge sufficient. If an offer to purchase at private sale, during the time for which it is rented, should be made, the trustee will communicate the same, if he judges it advantageous.
Under this authority the trustee permitted the defendant to continue in possession at the specified rent; and afterwards sold the land, which sale was finally ratified. After which the trustee reported, that he had received three years rent; upon which he was allowed seven per cent, for his trouble.
Mackubin v. Hogarth, 25th October, 1826, per Bland, Chancellor.
Barker v. Harper, Coop. Rep. 32; Smith v. Jackson, 1 Mad. Rep. 618; Spring r. South Carolina Insu. Comp. 6 Wheat. 519; Latimer v. Hanson, 1 Bland, 51.
Journal of the Senate, 6th and 18th of February, 1826.
Dorsey v. Smith, 7H.&J. 346.
1816, ch. 154, s. 10.
When this order was passed, the law declared, that every female orphan
Wells v. Roloson, 1 Bland, 457, note.
White v. White, 9 Ves. 554.
Collet v. Wollaston, 3 Bro. C. C. 228 ; Gowland v. De Faria, 17 Ves. 21; 1816, ch. 154, s. 13.
1 Price Obser. 33.
Strike’s case, 1 Bland, 77; 1830, ch. 99.
Long v. Short, 1 P. Will. 403.
1 Petersd. Abr. 710, 713; Ex parte Thistlewood, 19 Ves. 236; Johnson v. Compton, 6 Cond. Cha. Rep. 20.
Long v. Short, 1 P. Will. 403; Devon v. Atkins, 2 P. Will. 381; Hume v. Edwards, 3 Atk. 693; Lewin v. Lewin, 2 Ves. 417; Will. Exrs. 836, 842.
Kircudbright v. Kircudbright, 8 Ves. 51.
1 Madison Papers, 280, 320 ; Act of Congress, 15; 1828, ch. 53; Speeches of Berrien and others, 19 and 29 April, and 15, 22 and 24 May, 1828.
Rowel v. Walley, 1 Cha. Rep. 219.
Cornish v. Mew, 1 Ca. Cha. 271.
c) Brent v. Best, 1 Vern. 70; Clyat v. Batteson, 1 Vern. 404; Thynn v. Duvall, 2 Vern. 117.
James v. Hales, 2 Vern. 267 ; S. C. Prec. Cha. 44.
Ballet v. Sprainger, Prec. Cha. 62; Flud v. Flud, 2 Freem. 210.
Lock v. Lock, 2 Vern. 666.—
Freemoult v. Dedire, 1 P. Will. 429.
Verney v. Verney, 1 Ves. 428.
Heveningham v. Heveningham, 2 Vern. 355.
Anonymous, 1 P. Will. 680.
Flud v. Flud, 2 Freem. 210.
Verney v. Verney, 1 Ves. 428; White v. White, 4 Ves. 34.
White v. White, 9 Ves. 557.
Long v. Short, 1 P. Will. 403; Franks v. Cooper, 4 Ves. 763.
Devon v. Atkins, 2 P. Will. 380; Lewin v. Lewin, 2 Ves. 415; Rogers v. Millicent, Dick. 570.
Hume v. Edwards, 3 Atk. 693.
Ex parte LeCompte, 1 Atk. 251; Ex parte Belton, 1 Atk. 251; Bothomly v. Fairfax, 1 P. Will. 334, note ; Ex parte Artis, 2 Ves. 490; Ex parte Carter, 1 Bro. C. C. 267; Ex parte Burrow, 1 Bro. C. C. 268.
Cotterel v. Hooke, Doug. 97; Webster v. Bannister, Doug. 393.
1 Geo. 4, c. 119, s. 10; 1 Petersd. Abr. 714, note; Smith Merca. Law, 409; Ex parte Thistlewood, 19 Ves. 249; Johnson v. Compton, 6 Cond. Cha. Rep. 20 ; Lyde v. Mynn, 6 Cond. Cha. Rep. 230.
Nott v. Johnson, 2 Vern. 27.
Twisleton v. Griffith, I P. Will. 310.
Cole v. Gibbons, 3 P. Will. 290.
Ryle v. Brown, 6 Exch. Rep. 265; Darley v. Singleton, 6 Exch. Rep. 426.
Rees’ Cyclo. v. Halley.
Rees’ Cyclo, v. Newton; 1 Niebuhr’s Rome, 285; 16 Westm. Rev. 328.
Finlaison’s Report, &c. 8; 2 Price Obser. 454.
Rees’ Cyclo, v. De Moivre ; 9 Westm. Rev. 421.
Rees’ Cyclo. v. Simpson.
Since that time Arthur Morgan, in the year 1834, published a set of ‘Tables shewing the total number of persons assured in the Equitable Society, (London,) from its commencement in September, 1762, to January, 1829,’ &c.
1 Price Obser. 72, 97, 104, 109, 119, 142, 158 ; 9 Westm. Rev. 389.
4 W. & M. c. 3, s. 18; 5 W. & M. c. 5 and 20; 1 Ann. Stat. 2, c. 5
The reportfrom the select committee on life annuities, 4 June, 1829; The report of John Finlaison, actuary of the national debt, on the evidence and elementary facts on which the tables of life annuities, constructed by him, are founded, 31 March, 1829.
Finlaison’s Report, 1.
Psalms 90, v. 10; 2 Samuel 19, v. 32.
I Samuel 4, v. 15-18.
Finlaison’s Report, 18; 2 Malth. Popu. b. 3, c. 1, pt. 86; Reply to Malth. 247.
2 Price Obser. 105, 127, 123.
2 Price Obser. 106, 131.
2 Price Obser. 408, 442.
1 Price Obser. 8, 89, 95, 129, 186, 233; 2 Price Obser. 43; Rees’ Cyclo. v. Marriage and Mortality; 9 Westm. Rev. 397, 398; Seybert Stat. An. 44 ; 2 Southern Rev. 177.
Finlaison’s Rep. 8; 2 Price Obser. 132.
2 Price Obser. 111, 230.
9 Westm. Rev. 413.
2 Southern Rev. 178; 9 Westm. Rev. 402.
1 Malth. Popu. 52, 385, 401, 413; 1 Price Obser. 182, 186 ; 9 Westm. Rev. 388, 395, 398, 399 ; 2 Southern Rev. 175.
2 Southern Rev. 186.
1 Malth. Popu. 380 ; 2 Price Obser. 242.
1 Price Obser. 127; 2 Price Obser. 30, 33, 45, 49, 65, 83, 127, 218, 226; 1 Malth. Popu. 392; 2 Malth. Popu. 487.
9 Westm. Rev. 388.
9 Westm. Rev. 388 ; 14 Westm. Rev. 390, note; 1 Price Obser. 150; 2 Price Obser. 144 ; 3 Lond. and Westm. Rev. art. 8; 2 Sparks’ Franklin’s Works, 324.
Ree’s Cyclo. v. Life Annuities and Mortality.
1 Price Obser. 211; Ree’s Cyclo. v. Life Assurance and Mortality.
2 Price Obser. 94.
Ree’s Cyclo. v. Mortality.
9 Westm. Rev. 393.
1 Malth. Popu. b. 2, c. 2; 9 Westm. Rev. 386.
2 Price Obser. 454.
9 Westm. Rev. 388, 403.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 51; Trans. Philo. Soci. Philad. vol. 3, No. 7, p. 25; 2 Malth. Popu. 16.
Const. Maryl. art. 54; Heathcote v. Paignon, 2 Bro. C. C. 170 ; Kircudbright v. Kircudbright, 8 Ves. 51.
Kircudbright v. Kircudbright, 8 Ves. 64.—
Ardglasse v. Muschamp, 1 Vern. 288; Wiseman a. Beake, 2 Vern. 121; Nichols v. Gould, 2 Ves. 423; Bowes v. Heaps, 3 Ves. & Bea. 120; Baker v. Bent, 4 Cond. Chan. Rep. 398; S. C. 5 Cond. Chan. Rep. 432; Portmore v. Taylor, 6 Cond. Chan. Rep. 101, note.
1 Price Obser. 45, 86, 88; 2 Price Obser. 105, 118.
Henley v. Axe, 2 Bro. C. C. 17.; Davis v. Marlborough, 2 Swan. 149, note.
j) 9 Westm. Rev. 417.
2 Price Obser. 4, 251, 254, 290, 297.
Chesterfield v. Janssen, 2 Ves. 127.
Nichols v. Gould, 2 Ves. 423.
Lawrence v. Maggs, 1 Eden, 453; Pickering v. Vowles, 1 Bro. C. C. 198.
Nightingale v. Lawson, 1 Bro. C. C. 440; S. C. 1 Cox, 181.
Heathcote v. Paignon, 2 Bro. C. C. 167; Griffith v. Spratley, 1 Cox, 389.
Stone v. Theed, 2 Bro. C. C. 243,
White v. White, 4 Ves. 24; Penrhyn v. Hughes, 5 Ves. 107.
White v. White, 9 Ves. 554; Allan v. Backhouse, 2 Ves. & Bea. 78.
Ex parte Thistlewood, 19 Ves. 250.
Heathcote v. Paignon, 2 Bro. C. C. 167; Griffith v. Spratley, 1 Cox, 389; Evans v. Chesshire, Belt’s Supp. to Ves. 306; Gowland v. De Faria, 17 Ves. 25; Ex parte Thistlewood, 19 Ves. 236; Ex parte Whitehead, 1 Meriv. 127 ; Davis v. Marlborough, 2 Swan. 147; Portmore v. Taylor, 6 Cond. Chan. Rep. 104; Newton v. Hunt, 7 Cond. Chan. Rep. 518; Wardle v. Carter, 10 Cond. Chan. Rep. 163; Ryle v. Brown, 6 Exch. Rep. 265.
Gwynne v. Heaton, 1 Bro. C. C. 2; Heathcote v. Paignon, 2 Bro. C. C. 167; Gibson v. Jeyes, 6 Ves. 274; Ex parte Thistlewood, 19 Ves. 236.
Ringgold’s Case, 1 Bland, 26
Gibson v. Jeyes, 6 Ves. 274, 279; Ex parte Thistlewood, 19 Ves. 236.
Freemoult v. Dedire, 1 P. Will. 429; Flud v. Flud, 2 Freem. 210; Badger u. Badger, Mosely, 117; Barnardiston v. Lingood, 2
Vulpean, in the time of the Emperor Justinian, A. D. 529, estimated the values of annuities as follows. — (Pandect. 35. 2. 68.)
Age. Years of purchase.
Under 20 30
20 to 25 28
25 to 30 25
30 to 35 22
35 to 40 20
at 41 18
42 17
43 16
44 15
45 14
46 13
47 12
48 11
49 10
50 to 55 9
55 to 60 7
above 60 5
It is uncertain whether in this computation he made any allowance for discount, or something equivalent in meaning; or whether, as is much more probable, this was his notion of the number of years which a life at each age was likely to live. If the latter be the meaning, the Romans must have had but a miserable chance of life in old age. — (Finlaison’s Rep. 19, note.)
Badger v. Badger, Mosely, 117; Peacock v. Evans, 16 Ves. 516.
Ex parte Artis, 2 Ves. 490; Tracy v. Hereford, 2 Bro. C. C. 138; Davis v. Marlborough, 2 Swan. 151, 153, note; Oliver v. Court, 3 Exch. Rep. 330; Attersoll v. Stevens, 1 Taunt. 183; Maccubbin v. Cromwell, 2 H. & G. 460.
Ex parte Le Compte, 1 Atfc. 251; Ex parte Belton, 1 Atk. 251; Kircudbright v. Kircudbright, 8 Ves. 63 ; Gowland v. De Faria, 17 Ves. 24.
Butcher v. Churchill, 14 Ves. 574; Ex parte Thistlewood, 19 Ves. 236; Ex parte Whitehead, 1 Meriv. 10 and 127.
White v. White, 9 Ves. 560.
Hungerford v. Hungerford, Gilb. Eq. Rep. 69; Revel v. Watkinson, 1 Ves. 93; Amesbury v. Brown, 1 Ves. 477; Saville v. Saville, 2 Atk. 463; Penrhyn v. Hughes, 5 Ves. 107; Powel Mortg. 921, note H.
Amesbury v. Brown, 1 Ves. 480.
Peterborough v. Mordaunt, 1 Eden, 478; Tracy v. Hereford, 2 Bro. C. C, 128; Shrewsbury v. Shrewsbury, 3 Bro. C. C. 126; S. C. 1 Ves., jun., 227; Bertie v. Abingdon, 3 Meriv. 560; Burgess v. Mawbey, 11 Cond. Cha. Rep. 96.
Banks v. Sutton, 2 P. Will. 716.
Palmes v. Danby, Prec. Chan. 137; Powel Mort. 923, note; 1 Mad. Chan. 238.
2 Southern Review, 175.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 49.
Adams’ Rom. Ant. 89, 134.
Gibbon’s Decl. and Fall Rom., c. 2, c. 6, and c. 17; 1 Niebuhr’s Hist. Rome, 340, 347.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 17.
Smollet’s Hist. Eng. ch. 8.
Miller’s His. Gr. Brit. 470, 569; Seybert Stat. Ann. 25, 28; 8 Amer. Quart. Review, 388.
Journ. Cong. 26 December, 1775; 1 April, 1782; 17 February, 1783; 24 September, 1785,
1785, ch. 83, s. 25.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 17.
2 Price Obser. 54, 210; 1 Malthus Popu. 457, note, 476; Seybert Stat. Ann. 17, 19.
2 Southern Bov. 153; 1 Malthus Popu. 477.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 28, 30.
2 Sparks’ Franklin’s Works, 313; 2 Price Obser. 42; 2 Malthus Popu. b. 2, c. 9 ; 9 Westm. Rev. 419.
2 Price Obser. 51; 1 Malthus Popu. 386.
Darby’s View U. States, 434 ; Seybert Stat. Ann. 51,52; 2 Sparks’ Franklin’s Works, 311; 2 Malthus Popu. 53.
Spark’s Franklin’s Works, 319.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 17; 1 Tuck. Life of Jefferson, 207; 1 Madison Papers, 431.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 25, 27; 2 Malthus Pop. 525 ; Darby’s View U. S. 434.
1 Malthus Pop. 22.
1 Malthus Popu. 468.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 48.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 48 ; 2 Price Obser. Essay 2.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 37.
Seybert Stat. Ann. 40, 42,45.
1 Burk’s His. Virg. 206; 1 Malthus Popu. 6; 2 Malthus Popu. 54.
Darby’s View U. S. 421, 427; Hume’s Essays: Of the Populousness of Aneient Nations; Taylor’s Arator, Number 51, Draining.
October, 1777, ch. 14, s. 4; October, 1778, ch. 7, s. 11.
Biscoe v. Biscoe, 6 G. & J. 239 ; Hall v Mullin, 5 H. & J. 190; Cunningham v. Cunningham, Cas. Confr. North Carol. 353.
King v. Worsely, 2 Hayw. 366; Warfield v. Warfield, 5 H. & J. 459.
2 Southern Revi. 177, note; 1 Hume’s Essays, 225, note M.
1807, ch. 68; 1813, ch. 101; 1827, ch. 189.
k) Tabele v. Tabele, 1 John. C. C. 45; Hazen v. Thurber, 4 John. C. C. 604; Titus v. Neilson, 5 John. C. C. 458; Swaine v. Perine, 5 John. C. C. 491; Everston v. Tappan, 5 John. C. C. 513 ; Hale v. James, 6 John. C. C. 263.
Pollard v. Underwood, 4 Hen. & Mun. 459 ; Davison v. Waite, 2 Mun. 527.
Griffith v. Spratley, 1 Cox, 390.
Herbert v. Wren, 7 Cran. 380.
Miller v. Cape, 1 Desau. 110; Miller v. Miller, 1 Desau. 111; Clifford v. Clifford, 1 Desau. 115; Rutledge v. Williamson, 1 Desau. 159.
Smith’s Weal. Nations, b. 5, c. 2, pt. 2; Vattel, b. 1, c. 20, s. 240.
Smith’s Weal. Nations, b. 5, c. 2, pt. 2.
Decla. Rights Mary. art. 13; 1650, ch. 26, s. 3; Articles Confed. art. 8; 1 Madison’s Papers, 250, 260, 502, 503, 506,
Smith’s Weal. Nations, b. 5, e. 2, pt. 2.
1702, ch. 1, s. 3; 1715, ch. 15, s. 5; 1725, ch. 4; 1763, ch. 18, s. 23 and 81.
1704, ch. 34; 1715, ch. 15, s. 5; 1754, ch. 9; 2 Bozman’s His. Maryl. 204.
1756, ch. 5; 2 W. & M. c. 6, s. 11.
1 Hume’s Essays, Exper. 8 of Taxes; 1 Madison’s Papers, 509.
1715, ch. 15, s. 5.
November, 1781, ch. 4, s. 68; November, 1782, ch. 6, s. 49; November, 1783, ch. 17, s. 36; 1784, ch. 56, s. 40; 1785, ch. 83,s. 17; 1792, ch. 71, s. 25; 1803, ch. 92, s. 18; 1812, ch. 191, s. 16; 1829, ch. 106, s. 6.
1817, ch. 41 and 49.
February, 1777, ch. 22, s. 5 and 6.
October, 1778, ch. 7, s. 48 ; November, 1779, ch. 35, s. 57; October, 1780, ch. 25, s. 62; November, 1781, ch. 4, s. 66; November, 1782, ch. 6, s. 47; November, 1783, ch. 17, s. 35; 1784, ch. 56, s. 38 ; 1785, ch. 83, s. 16.
1790, ch. 33; Egan 11. Charles County Court, 3 H. & McH. 169.
Smith’s Weal. Nations, b. 5, c. 2, pt. 2; Gibbon’s Decl. and Fall Rom. Emp. ch. 17.
1785, ch. 33, s. 1.
March, 1778, ch. 15; June, 1778, ch. 9.
Const. art. 11; 3 Hatsell's Precedents, 104.
4 W. & M. c. 1; Gilbert’s Court of Exchequer, ch. 14; Brewster v. Kitchin, 1 Ld. Raym. 318; S. C. 2 Salk. 615; Whitfield v. Brandwood, 3 Com. Law Rep. 421.
Sloane v. Pawlett, 8 Mod. 18.
1 W. & M. sess. 2, c. 2.
July, 1779, ch. 6, s. 6 and 8 ; 1780, ch. 25, s. 2; 1792, ch. 71, s. 1; 1797, ch. 89, s. 1; 1803, ch. 92, s. 1; 1812, ch. 191, s. 1
1821, ch. 91.
1799, ch. 16, s. 11; May, 1788, ch. 7; 1824, ch. 79, s. 9; 1826, ch. 249 ; 1828, ch. 113 and 177; Gibbon’s Decl. and Fall Rom. Emp. ch. 20.
Gibbon’s Decl. and Fall Rom. Emp. ch. 6.
36 Geo. 3, c. 52; 55 Geo. 3, c. 184; Matthews on Executors, 193, and App. B.; Ram on Assets, 251.
February, 1777, ch. 21 and 22; June, 1777, ch. 14; October, 1777, ch. 14.
March, 1778, ch. 7, s. 23; October, 1778, ch. 7, s. 27.
November, 1779, ch. 35, s. 30 and 32.
October, 1780, ch. 25, s. 25.
November, 1781, ch. 4, s. 27.
November, 1782, ch. 6, s. 24; Brockman v. Honywood, 1 P. Will. 328.
1783, ch. 17, s. 18
1784, ch. 56, s. 18.
1785, ch. 53, s. 7 and 8.
1797, ch. 89, s. 41.
1798, ch. 96.
1803, ch. 92, s. 40 and 41; 18l2, ch. 191, s. 35 and 36; 2 Eq. Ca. Abr. 62, 64; East v. Thornbury, 3 P. Will. 128; Nicholls v. Leeson, 8 Atk. 574; Gwynne v. Heaton, 1 Bro. C. C. 4, note; Sutton v. Chaplin, 10 Ves. 66; Adair v. The New River Company, 11 Ves. 429; Brewster v. Kitchin, 1 Ld. Raym. 318; Hughes v. Young, 5 G. & J. 68 ; Ram. on Assets, 134.
Devonsher v. Newenham, 2 Scho. & Lef. 211.
1826, ch. 170; 1827, ch. 110,114.
Mole v. Smith, 1 Jac. & Walk. 653.
1801, ch. 82.
1815, ch. 45.
1811, ch. 137, 149; 1813, ch. 152, 161.
1811, ch. 45; 1816, ch. 246.
1807, ch. 37, 135; 1809, ch. 49; 1810, ch. 138.
1812, ch. 160; 1814, ch. 90; 1816, ch. 224.
1819, ch. 129.
1802, ch. 67; 1803, ch. 91; 1810, ch. 25, 74; 1818, ch. 31, 93, 161, 175; 1819, ch. 102; 1825, ch. 64; 1827, ch. 102.
1808, ch. 15; 1816, ch. 50.
1799, ch. 49, s. 6.
1820, ch. 191, s. 28.
1816, ch. 154, s. 10.
1818, ch. 193, s. 8; 1819, ch. 143.
1809, ch. 160, s. 4; 1810, ch. 25, s. 2 ; 1811, ch. 200, s. 2; 1812, ch. 181, s. 1.
1820, ch. 191, s. 35, 36, 37 and 38
1816, ch. 154, s. 13, which act has been explained and extended to remainders by 1831, ch. 811, s. 9.
Maccubbin v. Cromwell, 2 H. & G. 457.
Cassanave v. Brooke. — This petition, filed on the 29th of October, 17.99, stated, that the petitioner was the widow of Peter Cassanave, who died seised of a large real estate in which she was entitled to dower; the whole of which, at the suit of the creditors of her husband had been sold for the payment of his debts; that the defendant Samuel Brooke, as trustee, had sold it, under a decree of this court, discharged of all claim of dower; and under that representation, it had been purchased by the then holders from the trustee. Therefore to quiet their titles; and that justice might be done to all, she prayed, that she might be allowed a proportion of the net proceeds of the sale in lieu of dower.
This petition was on the 29th of October, 1799, endorsed thus by the Chancellor. ‘Issue subpmna returnable immediately.’ After which the trustee answered on oath and admitted all the facts stated in the petition.
21 st May, 1801. — Hanson, Chancellor. — The said cause being submitted on the bill or petition and answer, the same were by the Chancellor read and considered.
Inasmuch as she could not use her third part of the land as a tenant in fee simple might use it, it appears, that when the land is converted into money she cannot be entitled to the full present value of a third part of the annual interest of that money for life. The interest in the land which she parts with is such, that she cannot sell the timber off the land as a tenant in fee might do. The value then of the privilege of selling timber, &.c. is to be taken into the account.
Upon the calculation which the Chancellor has made, on the principles adopted in Europe for ascertaining the present value of all interests in land, and on making a reasonable deduction on account of the aforesaid privileges, it appears to him, that the right of dower of a healthy woman, thirty years of age, as the present petitioner is stated and admitted to be, is about three-twentieths of the net sum for which the whole interest in the land has sold or shall sell for.
It is accordingly Adjudged, Ordered and Decreed, that the petitioner Ann Cassanave, is entitled to and shall receive three parts out of twenty of the net money, arising from the sale of those lands, under the decree of this court, of which her husband appears, from the petition and answer to have had a complete legal title; and it is further Ordered, that the auditor of this court state the sum she is entitled to from the said sales, deducting the costs of suit and the trustee’s commissions.
The statement was made accordingly by the auditor, and the sum thus ascertained ordered to be paid. _
Greenwood v. Clarke. — This petition was filed on the 17th of January, 180J, to have a certain lot of land divided among the parties as the heirs of William Clarke, deceased. The defendants were all infants and non-residents. The petition stated, that the land would not admit of division and prayed a sale. Upon which an order of publication was passed to be inserted in the Baltimore Telegraph warning the defendants to appear, &c. The publication of which order was certified to have been made by the printer of that paper. On the 1st of July, 1801, it was decreed that the lands be sold, &e. Under which a sale was made, reported and absolutely confirmed, no cause having been shewn, &c. Upon which the Chancellor, by way of note said, ‘it is suggested, that there is a relict of the deceased, married to another man, who has joined her in a power of attorney to authorize the sale of her interest, and the taking in lieu of her dower such sum as the Chancellor shall think proper, &c. But there is not the least proof of her being Clarke’s widow, and entitled to dower. There is another defect of proof. It is material to know the widow’s age, because allowances are made according to age. These defects may be supplied.’ After which the proofs were exhibited and the case thereupon submitted.
17th November, 1804. — Hanson, Chancellor. — On the petition of Ann Bandall with her husband James Bandall, it is Adjudged and Ordered, that she, as relict of William Clarke, deceased, of Kent county, whose lands have been sold under a decree of this court, be allowed one-eighth part of the net money arising from the said sale as a compensation for relinquishing her right of dower. Let the auditor of the court state the application of the money, &c.
1 Price Obser. ch. 3; Will. Exrs. 781; 1810, ch. 34, s. 4; Collet v. Wollaston, 3 Bro. C. C. 228.
Price Obser. ch. 1,
Dorsey v. Smith, 7 H. & J. 356.
Dorsey v. Smith, 7 H. & J. 366,
Nightingale v. Lawson, 1 Bro. C. C. 443.
Ree’s Cyclo. v, Valuation of Lands; 1 Price Obser. 38, 200; 2 Spark's Franklin, 326. ‘Whatever a farm will sell for fixes its value as merchandise; but
Addison v. Bowie, 2 Bland, 613.
Higgs v. Warry, 6 T. R. 655; The Mayor of Southampton v. Graves, 8 T. R. 592.
1816, ch. 154, s. 10.
1818, ch. 193, s. 8 ; 1819, ch. 143.
1820, 191, s. 28.
1816, ch. 154, s. 13 ; 1820, ch. 191, s. 35, 36, 37 and 38.
Greenwood v. Clarke, ante 268.
Maccubbin v. Cromwell, 2 H. & G. 448; John Carr and others v. Itichard Watkins and others, 12 June, 1838. — M. S.
) Rees’ Cyclo, v. Expectation.
) 2 Price Obser. 313.
) 9 Westm. Rev. 403.
) This column is taken from a folio pamphlet, entitled ‘Tables shewing the total number of persons assured in The Equitable Society, from its commencement in September, 1762, to January 1st, 1829, &c. To which are added Tables of the probabilities and expectation of the duration of human life from these documents, &c.;’ by Arthur Morgan, the then Actuary of the Society, published in the year 1834. In the introduction prefixed to these Tables, after stating, that the expectations, as here set down, are the most correct, Mr. Morgan adds, ‘It has the advantage also of being the safer Table of the two for most of the practical purposes of a Life Assurance Office, giving the probabilities and expectations of life somewhat lower than those deduced from the mortality of separate classes, in a few cases where these latter have been sufficiently numerous to form some estimate.’
) 9 Westm. Rev. 403
) 9 Westm. Rev. 403
) Seybert’s Stat. Ann. 51.
) 9 Westm. Rev. 419.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.