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H

AVING made a will, the testator should recollect that marriage,

birth of children, death, or the purchase or sale of real estate may affect the will. So the death or removal of executors may require a change. These alterations may be made by a codicil, which must be executed and witnessed the same as a will.

The will, enclosed in a sealed envelope, indorsed "Will of A. B.,” should be kept in safe custody under the control of the testator. It should not be placed for safe keeping in the hands of interested parties, nor beyond the reach of the testator. It should also be placed where it will be absolutely forthcoming in case of the testator's sudden demise.

After the death of the testator the will should be taken to the court, unopened, and there filed with an affidavit as to the custody of it and death of the testator.

The judge having opened it, orders that publication be made according to law, that on a certain day it will be offered for proof, and causes notice to be given the heirs at law of the deceased and the executors named, if any, in the will.

At the time appointed the widow, if there is one, some of the heirs, and one or more of the executors, appear in court, with the witnesses to the will. To enable the will to be probated the witnesses must swear the testator executed it as and for his last will, and was then of a sound and disposing mine and memory. At this period any party interested in the estate may contest the will before the court.

Both husbands and wives are entitled to an interest in their joint estate, termed right of dower, which is not affected by wills, so that where it appears by the will that the provision is made by devise or

Heir's Petition to Have Administrator Appointed.

To the County Court of Kane county, in the State of Illinois:

The petition of Raymond Scott, the oldest surviving son of Willard J. Scott, late of said county, deceased, respectfully showeth: That on the eighteenth day of December, A. D. 1898, the said Willard J. Scott died, leaving goods, chattels, rights, credits and real estate in the county aforesaid; that, at the time of his decease, the said Willard J. Scott was a widower, his wife having died at St. Charles, in said county, as can be duly verified, on the tenth day of May, A. D. 1898; that, to the best of the knowledge and belief of your petitioner, no last will and testament was left by the said Willard J. Scott, deceased; that he has left, as heirs to his estate, two children, one (the undersigned) aged twenty-seven years, and a girl, Mary, now in the fourteenth year of her age; and that the deceased was, at and immediately prior to his death, a resident of the said county of Kane. Your petitioner, therefore, prays that letters of administra tion may be granted on the estate of the deceased, and that he may be appointed the administrator thereof. RAYMOND SCOTT.

Dated this twenty-first day of December, A. D. 1898, at St. Charles, in said county of Kane, and State of Illinois.

(An affidavit is required of the petitioner to verify the facts as stated in his petition. See AFFIDAVITS.)

Bond Required of the Administrator.

The petition of the nearest heir (whether widow or child) having been granted by the court, the administrator must execute a good

legacy, in lieu of dower, the husband or wife must be called into

court to accept or waive the provisions in the will.

If the judge thinks the will properly proved, he orders it recorded and issues letters of administration to the executors. A certified copy of the will and above order should be recorded in the registry of deeds of every county in which there is land devised by the will. If the executors named do not wish to act, they file a disclaimer, and the judge then appoints an administrator with the will annexed. If an administrator dies before he has settled the estate, the court appoints his administrator to settle it, who is called administrator of estate yet to be settled. Persons administering on estate are by law required to give a bond with sureties in double the sworn value of the personal estate. This may be waived by the will.

The law vests the personal estate in the executor or administrators from the death of the testator, and the real estate in the heirs at law. These latter enter into possession at once, by descent or will, but their rights are subject to the widow's privilege of residing in her husband's home for forty days after his death, and all homestead laws. In every State a widow has first, in preference to creditors, an allowance for the support of the family, or an award. Except in this respect all property is subject to the debts of the deceased.

In many respects the work of administrators appointed by the court, in case there is no will, is similar to that of executors when there is a will.

In case the deceased dies intestate (that is, leaving no will), then the widow, or the nearest heir to the estate, at once petitions the probate court for letters of administration to issue to some suitable person for its settlement, the following being the form of petition:

and sufficient bond, in form following, in order to secure the estate from loss by carelessness or roguery.

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that we, Raymond Scott, as principal, and Edward Poor and David T. Rich, as sureties, all being residents of Kane county, in the State of Illinois, are held and firmly bound unto Roswell C. Otis, judge of the county court in and for said county, in the penal sum of Thirty Thousand Dollars, to be paid to said judge and his successors in said office; to the true payment whereof we bind ourselves and each of us, one and each of our heirs, executors and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals and dated the first day of January, A. D. 1899.

The condition of this obligation is, that if the abo e-boлnden Raymond Scott, administrator of all and singular the gools, chattels and credits of Willard J. Scott, deceased, do make, or cause to be made, a true and perfect inventory of all and singular the goods, chattels and credits of the said deceased, which have or shall come to the hands, possession or knowledge of him the said Raymond Scott, or into the hands and possession of any other person, or persons, for him, and the same so made do exhibit, or cause to be exhibited into the county clerk's office of Kane, in the State of Illinois, within thirty days from the date hereof; and the same goods, chattels and credits and all other the goods, chattels and credits of the said deceased at the time of his death, or which at any time after shall come to the hands and possession of the said Raymond Scott, or into the hands and possession of any other person or persons for him, do well and truly administer according to law; and further do make, or cause to be made, a just and true account of his

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said administration within ninety days from the date hereof, or when thereunto legally required; and all the rest and residue of the said goods, chattels and credits which shall be found remaining upon the said administrator's account, the same being first examined and allowed by the county (or probate) court of the county having jurisdiction, shall deliver and pay unto such person or persons as the said court, by their decree or sentence, pursuant to law, shall limit and appoint; and shall well and truly comply with the law of this State relating to inheritances; and if it shall hereafter appear that any past wi" and testament was made by the said deceased, and the same shall be proved according to law, if the said Raymond Scott, being thereto required, do surrender the said letters of administration into the office of the clerk of said county (or probate) court of Kane county, as aforesaid, then this obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.

Administrator's Advertisement Calling for Settlement. The preliminaries being arranged, the administrator inserts the following notice in a local newspaper several times, which notice he : posts on the court-house door, and in two other prominent places in the courty.

Norice. —Wheress letters of administration upon the estate of Willard J. Scott, late of St. Charles, in this county, have been granted to the subscriber, all persons indebted to the said estate are requested to make immediate payment, and those having claims or demands against the same will present them without delay to RAYMOND SCOTT, Administrator. GENITA, Kane county, Illinois January 1, A. D. 198

The Work of Settling the Estate.

The administrator is now ready to begin the work of administratio under the sanction and restraint of the State laws upon this subject, using the first ready money realized from the estate in most States te pay the funeral expenses of the deceased, the hills for nurses and med cal attendance in his last illness, and the probate fees of the evant, dedes Eif any due to the United States; debts (if sur) ¿ve to the State in which be Sved; all Sens that may exist zpon and eneander say of dis property, and then, debts due to other crectors. The adminstrator has no power outside of the State in which he sets in that capac) TT,

The 1st week ze de dome, demeren, is to search for and gather * be personal reperty and real estate owned by the deceased. The must be carefully havensried and classifed. In some States the Andes scimmed te dwe ze more apertisers, in order to ahili the mal” ra, në of the Stad property, who dring in a report wircond as tõers:

Inventory of Property of Ward J. Scott

Å TIDE KIDË TEMUCO TE PAytome and juË DONITI NÀ” Di

Personally appeared before me, a notary public in and for the county of Kane, and State of Illinois, the above-named George Erickson and Thomas B. Wells, who solemnly swear (or affirm) that at the request of Raymond Scott, administrator, they did well and truly, and without prejudice or partiality, value and appraise the goods, chattels and credits which were of Willard J. Scott, deceased, as set forth in the foregoing inventory, and in all respects perform their duties as appraisers, to the best of their skill and judgment.

GEORGE ERICKSON, THOS. B. WELLS. Sworn (or affirmed) and subscribed this fifth day of January, A. D. 1899, before me.

If sufficient property belonging to the deceased cannot be found to pay off his indebtedness, under ordinarily careful management, the administrator should at once notify the county (or probate) court that the estate is insolvent, and proceed according to the laws of the State in which he lives concerning insolvent debtors.

In Illinois, and possibly other States, every claim against a deceased person's estate must be accompanied by the claimant's affidavit that it is just and unpaid, after allowing all just credits." The administrator charges himself with whatever property of the deceased comes into his hands, valted at the sworn appraisement, and all moneys received on accounts, notes, bonds, mortgages and from all other resources of the estate; and credits himself with all moneys and effects paid our and bestowed upon creditors and heirs of the estate, together with his fees and commissions as administrator: sad when the estate is fully settled be renders to the county or probate court, in the following form, his scconzt, daly sworn to:

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Alabama.-All persons twenty-one years of age may devise real estate by will, and at eighteen or over may dispose of personal property. Two witnesses are required. Married women may bequeath their separate estates. Wills are recorded in the probate judge's office.

Arizona Territory.-Testators, male or female, must be twenty-one years old. Two witnesses are required. Married women may devise their separate property.

Arkansas.-Must be twenty-one years of age to devise real estate, and eighteen to devise personal property. Three witnesses are required. Wills are recorded in the probate court of the county where most of the bequeathed land is situated; but if only personal property is devised, then in the county where the testator died. Married women devise their separate property as they please.

California.-At eighteen or over testators may devise real or personal property. Married women may dispose, by will, of their separate estate without the consent of their husbands. Two witnesses are required for all written wills.

Colorado.-The testator, if male, must be twenty-one; if female, eighteen. Either male or female may will personal property at seventeen. Neither husband nor wife can deprive the other of one-half the property by will, except wife may do so with written consent of husband.

Two wit

nesses are required. Wills are recorded in county courts, where letters of administration are issued; also with the recorder in counties where the testator owned real estate.

Connecticut.-All persons over eighteen can dispose of their property by will, either real or personal. Ten Three witnesses are required. years are allowed, after the testator's death, in which to probate his will. Wills are recorded in the probate courts.

Dakota N. and S. -At eighteen persons may devise both their personal and real property. Married Two witnesses are necessary. women may dispose of their separate estates without the consent of their husbands. A will made by an unmarried woman is revoked by her mar riage, and not revived by the death of her husband.

Delaware.-The testator must be twenty-one years old. Two witnesses are required. Married women, with the written consent of their husbands, given under their hands and seals, in presence of two witnesses, may dispose of their property by will.

District of Columbia.-Male testators must be twenty-one years old; females, eighteen. Three witnesses are required to testator's signature. Married women will their separate property to whom they please. Wills are recorded in the registry of wills.

Florida.-Required age, twenty-one.

witnesses.

Three

Maine.-Men and women alike may devise their property, real and personal. Three witnesses necessary. Wills, transferring real estate, are recorded like deeds. Estates are settled in the probate court.

Maryland.-Men must be twenty-one; women, eighteen. Three witnesses necessary. Wills of Wills personal property do not require witnesses. must be proven in the orphans' court of each county, or before the register of wills.

Massachusetts.-Any person may will real or personal property. A husband cannot be deprived of one-half of his wife's personal property or a life interest in her real estate by her will, unless he consents to the devise. Three witnesses required to signature of testator. Wills are recorded in the office of register of probate.

Michigan. -Testator must be twenty-one. Two witnesses. Copies of the wills must be recorded in the county registers' offices where the lands are located.

Minnesota.-Men must be twenty-one; women, eighteen. Two witnesses. Estates are settled in probate courts, where wills are recorded. Copies are recorded in counties where devised real estate is located.

Mississippl.-Testators must be twenty-one, male or female. Three witnesses required. Probate is made in the court of chancery, or by the clerk thereof, and recorded in his office.

Missouri.-Must be twenty-one to devise real estate, and eighteen to bequeath personal property. Married women may devise real estate at the age of eighteen. Two witnesses. After probate, wills are recorded in the office of the register of deeds.

Montana.-Every person, at eighteen, may devise any kind of property in writing. Two witnesses.

Nebraska.- Two witnesses. Wills may be recorded in the office of the clerk of the county where bequeathed real estate is located.

Nevada. - Testators over eighteen years of age may dispose of any of their property after payment of debts is provided for. Married woman may devise her separate estate without husband's consent. Wills must be recorded in the courts where they are admitted to probate.

New Hampshire. Must be twenty-one years old. Three witnesses. Wills are recorded in the office of the register of probate, and proved in probate courts.

New Jersey.-Must be twenty-one years old. Married woman cannot will away her husband's interest in her real estate. Two witnesses. They are proved and recorded in the office of the surrogate of the county.

New Mexico. - Males over fourteen years and females over twelve years of age, if of sound mind, may execute wills, unless known to be prodigals. Verbal wills require five witnesses, and all must testify clearly as to every part of the will. Written wills need three or more witnesses. Probate judges approve of wills or reject them. Appeals are taken to the district court.

New York.-Wills must be signed by testaMales tors at the end, but need not be sealed. can bequeath personal property when eighteen, and females at sixteen. Two witnesses to the sig nature of the testator and his acknowledgment of the document are required to be affixed to the will, which is proven in the office of the surrogate of the county where the testator lived.

North Carolina.-Wills have two witnesses. Married women devise their separate estates. Wills must be recorded in the probate court of the county where the testator lived.

Ohio -Must be twenty-one years old. Two witnesses. Wills are admitted to probate or record in the office of the probate judge.

Oregon.-Testators must be twenty-one years old in order to devise real estate, but may bequeath personal property if over eighteen years of age. Married women devise real estate subject to their husbands' interest in it. Two witnesses. Pennsylvania.-Testators must be twentyone years old. Two witnesses necessary, who,

however, are not required to place their signatures to the will. A husband is not competent as a witness to his wife's will.

Rhode Island.-Real estate may be devised by persons twenty-one years old, and personal property by those over eighteen years. Two witnesses. Probate courts are located at Newport and Providence, where wills are recorded. In other places they are recorded by townclerks.

South Carolina.-Wills devising both real estate and personal property must be executed in the presence of three or more subscribing witnesses, and recorded in the probate court of the county where the testator resided.

Tennessee.- Where only personal property is devised the witnesses need not subscribe their names to the will. Married women can devise their separate property, unless they hold it under previous restraint. County courts are courts of probate.

Texas. All persons, twenty-one years old, Two may devise their real and personal estate. witnesses necessary. Wills are admitted and proved in county courts, if presented for probate within four years after the death of the testator. Devises of real estate must be confined to written wills.

Utah and Territory.-Testators, male female, may devise their real and personal property by will when eighteen years old. This includes the separate property of married women. Two witnesses required.

Vermont.-Three witnesses. Real and personal property of a married woman may be devised by her will. Estates are settled in probate courts. Wills may be recorded either in probate courts or in town-clerk's office wherever the devised real estate is located.

Virginia.-Persons of sound mind may devise their real estate by will after they become twenty. one years of age, and their personal property at the age of eighteen years. This includes the separate property of married women. Two witnesses. Estates are settled in either corporation, county or circuit courts, in the county or corporation where the testator lived, or where his real estate is located.

Washington.-Two witnesses. Males must be twenty-one years old, and females eighteen years, devising both real and personal estate. Married women are restricted in this respect by their husbands' claims upon their property.

West Virginia.-All persons of twenty-one years old, may devise their real and personal estate by a written will, duly attested. Two wit

nesses.

Wisconsin.-Wills, including those of married women, must be in writing, and signed in the presence of two or more subscribing witnesses. Wills are proved and admitted to probate in county courts.

Wyoming. -There being no state laws on the subject, the usages of common law regulate the execution and proof of wills. They are proved and admitted to settlement in the probate courts. Married women are at liberty to devise their separate property as they please.

Canadian Wills.

Quebec.-All persons twenty-one years old and of sound mind may devise their real and personal property by will. Wills are of three kinds: The French will is made before two notaries, or one notary and two witnesses; the English, signed by the testator in presence of two subscribing witnesses, and the olograpa, written and signed by the testator's hand, which requires neither the presence of a notary or subscribing witnesses. The English and olograph wills require to be probated. Married women cannot devise their estates without their husbands' consent.

Ontario.-Married women may bequeath their separate estate to whom they wish. Wills must be in writing, the signature of the testator being attested by two subscribing witnesses in the presence of the testator and each other. An executor is a competent witness to the will.

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ALABAMA.-Home worth $2,000, and Personal Property $1.000. The exempted home may consist of a house and lot in an incorporated town, village or city, or of 160 acres of land, with building, in the country, either not exceeding $2,000 in value. The exempted personal property comprises wages for labor or service, $25 per month, burial places, pews in churches, household furniture, all necessary and proper wearing. apparel for the whole family, family portraits, books used in the family, etc., worth not more than $1,000.

ARIZONA. -Home worth $4,000 and Personal prop'ty 81.000-The homestead may include a quantity of land and a dwelling-h use and its appurtenances, with water-right suff.ient to irri gate the and; also, stovn use in dwellings, church pews, burial placer of families, all arins and coutrements kept for use, all wearingapparel of families, all library and school-books to the value of $150, family pictures; ten sheep or goats owned by a householder, with their fleeces, and the yarn or cloth made from them; two cows, five swine, and enough provisions for the household to last six months; all household goods, furniture and utensils not exceeding in value 8000; the tools, implements, materials, animals, etc., necessary to carry on any trade profession or business, not ex ceding in value $1,000, one sewing machine and one musical instrument, with hay, grain and other food for exempted animals sufficient for three months.

ARKANSAS.--Home $2.500, and Personal Property $500. The homestead in towns and cities may comprise one acre of land in the country, 100 acres; but is the b tead b no more than eighty acres in the country, cr onequarter of an acre in a town or city it value is unlimited. The personal property of an unmar ried man exempted from execution, besides his necessary wearing apparel, must not exceed in value 8200, nor, if married, $500, to be selected by the owners.

CALIFORNIA. Home $5,000, and Personal Property. An unmarried person's homestead, consisting of an indefinite quantity of land and a dwelling house thereon, is limited to $1.000; a married person's to $5,000 in value. The other exemptions are chairs, tables, desks and books, to the value of $200, necessary household, table and kitchen furniture, including one sewing machine, stoves, stove pipe and stove furniture, wearing apparel, beds, bedding and bedsteads, hanging pictures, oil paintings and drawings, drawn or painted by a member of the family; family portraits in their frames; provisions sufficient for three months; farming utensils or implements of husbandry, also two oxen, or two horses, or two mules, and their harness, one cart or wagon, and food for such animals, etc., for one month; all seed, grain or vegetables, actually provided for planting or sowing within the ensuing six months, not exceeding $200 in value; seventy-five bee

hives; one horse and vehicle of a maimed and crippled person when necessary in his business; tools of a mechanic or artisan necessary to his trade; notarial seal, records and office furniture of a notary; instruments and chest of a surgeon, physician, surveyor, dentist, necessary to their profession, with their scientific or professional libraries and office furniture; the law professional libraries and office furniture of attorneys and judges, and libraries of ministers of the gospel, the cabin or dwelling of a miner not exceeding 8500 in value; also his sluices, pipes, hose, windlass, derricks, cars, pumps, tools, impl.nents, and appliances necessary for mining operations, not exceeding $500 in value; a miner's claim worked by him, not exceeding $1,000 in value, and two horses, oxen or mules, and harness, and food of horses, etc., for one month, when necessary to be used in any windlass, derrick, car, pump or hoisting gear, two oxen, horses, or mules, with harness, and hack, carriage, cart, etc., by which a cartman, drayman, peddler, teamster, etc., earns his living, and the horse, vehicle, and harness of a physician or minister of the gospel, with food for one month; three cows with their sucking calves, and four hogs with their sucking pigs: poultry, not exceeding $25 in value; earnings of debtor for services rendered within thirty days before levy, necessary for the use of his family residing in the State, supported by his labor; shares in a homestead corporation not exceeding $1,000 in value, when the holder does not own a homestead; all benefits of life insurance whose annual premiums do not exceed $500; fire-engines, etc., of fire companies; arms and accoutrements required to be kept by law; court houses, jails, and buildings, and lots. cemeteries, and certain other public property.

COLORADO.-Home worth $2,000, and Personal Property.--There is exempted a homestead worth not to exceed $2,000, and to the head of a family owning and occupying the same, there are exempted various articles of personal property, as follows: Household furniture $100; provisions for the family six months; tools, implements or stockin-trade $200; library and implements of any professional 8300; working animals worth $200; one cow and calf, ten sheep, cattle-feed for six months; farm wagon, cart or dray, plow, harrow, and $50 worth of other farming implements.

CONNECTICUT.-Home worth $1,000. Personal Property and $50.00 in wages. Necessary apparel and bedding, and household furniture necessary for supporting life; militia arms, uniforms, equipments and musical instruments; implements of the debtor's trade; library worth $500; one cow and ten sheep (the latter not exceeding in value $150) a liberal variety and specified amounts of household provisions, fuel etc.; the horse, saddle, bridle, buggy and harness, of value not more than $200, belonging to any practicing surgeon or physician; one sewingmachine in use; one church pew i. use, and one boat used in fishing, with its necessary tackle, sails and implements, worth not more, in all, than $200, and the family burial-place.

SO. DAK.-Home of 160 acres, with build ings, or, in a village or city, a house and one acre of land, with Personal Property.-The house holder's homestead, as above described, is without limit in value. Besides the following family pos sessions, the householder may select $1,500 worth of other personal property, which is also exempt. The family pictures, a church pew, a burial lot, a 1amily Bible, school-books and other books worth $200, all necessary wearing apparel of the family. and a year's supply of provisions and fuel.

DELAWARE.-No Home exempted. Per sonal Property worth $200.-There is no homestead exemption in this State. Local laws regulate exemptions of personal property in various por tions of the State, covering the family Bible, library, school-books, pictures, church pew, burial-ground, clothing, and implements of trade (ranging in value from $50 to $75), and from $150 to $200 worth of other property. Sussex county does not give the additional personal property exemption.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. - No Home exempted. Personal Property of the following value: The following property of a householder is exempt from distraint, attachment, or sale on execution, except for servants' or laborers' wages due: Wearing apparel, household furniture to the amount of $300; provisions and fuel for three months; mechanics' tools or implements of any trade, to the value of $200, with stock to the same amount; the library and implements of a professional man or artist, to the value of $300; a farmer's team and other utensils, to the value of $100; family pictures and library, in value $400; earnings not exceeding $100 per month, and one cow, one swine and six sheep.

FLORIDA.-Farm, or House and Lot, and Personal Property.-Homestead of 160 acres of land and improvements, if in the country; a resi dence and one-half acre of ground, if in a village or city; together with $1,000 worth of personal property

GEORGIA.-Real or Personal Property, or both, worth $1,600.-The constitution of 1877 and statutes of 1878 absolutely exempt from levy, except for purchase-money, taxes, or liens for labor or materials, etc., real or personal property, or both, to the value of $1,600, the debtor choos ing whatever he desires shall be exempted.

IDAHO. - Home worth $5,000 and Personal Property-The head of a family, being a householder, either husband or wife, may select a homestead not exceeding in value $5,000. Exemption extends to chairs, tables, books and desks, worth $100; necessary household, taole and kitchen fur niture, a sewing-machine, stoves, stove-pipe and stove furniture, clothing, beds and bedding, family paintings and pictures and their frames, provisions for the family for three months, two

261

cows and calves, and two sows and pigs; farming implements, teams, seed-grain and vegetables, etc., worth $200; mechanics' tools, etc., worth $500; instruments of medical practitioners; libraries of professional men, and office furniture of lawyers and judges; miners' cabins to the value of $500, and their mining tools and implements $200; earnings of laborers, etc.

ILLINOIS. - Home worth $1,000, and Personal Property.-Lot of ground and buildings thereon, occupied as a residence by the debtor, being a householder and having a family, to the value of $1,000. Exemption continues after the death of the householder for the benefit of widow and family, some one of them occupying the homestead until the youngest child shall become twenty-one years of age, and until death of widow. Insurance money received or due upon burned buildings of the homestead is also exempt. There is no exemption from sale for taxes, assessments, debt or liability incurred for the purchase or improvement of such homestead. No release or waiver of exemption is valid, unless in writing, and subscribed by such householder and wife, if he have one, and acknowledged as conveyances of real estate are required to be acknowledged. The following articles of persona! property owned by the debtor are exempt from execution, writ of attachment, and distress for rent: First-Necessary wearing-apparel, Bibles, school-books, and family pictures of every person. Second-Other property worth $100 to be selected by the debtor. When the debtor is the head of a family, and resides with the same, in addition, other property worth $300 may be selected; though such exemption shall not be allowed from any money due such debtor. A debtor taking the benefit of this act shall make a schedule, subscribed and sworn to, of all his or her personal property, including all moneys on hand and due the debtor; and any property owned by the debtor and not included in said schedule, shall not be exempt as aforesaid. And thereupon the officer having an execution against the same, shall summon three householders who, upon oath, will appraise and fix a fair value upon each article in said schedule, and the debtor shall then select from such schedule such articles as he or she may desire to retain, the aggregate value of which shall not exceed the amount exempted, to which he or she may be entitled, and deliver the remainder to the officer having the writ. The officer having the writ is authorized to administer the oath to the debtor and appraisers. To head of family the sum of $50 is exempt from garnishment for wages.

INDIANA.-Personal property to the value of $600.-There is no specific homestead exemption in this State. On contracts made since May 31, 1879, a householder may claim, as exempt, real estate or personal property to the value of $600. Exempt goods may be removed from one part of the state to another without molestation. In case of debts founded upon contracts made previous to May 31, 1879, the exemption is only $300. A debtor's property must be scheduled and sworn to by the debtor, appraised under direction of the law officer. Exemptions do not affect liens for labor, purchase-money or taxes.

IOWA.-Farm of 40 acres, or House and Lot in City, and Personal Property.-The homestead must embrace the house used as a home by the owner thereof, and if he has two or more houses thus used by him, at different times and places, he may select which he will retain as a homestead. If within a town plat, it must not exceed one-half acre in extent, and if not in a town plat it must not embrace in the aggregate more than forty acres; in each case comprising all the buildings and improvements thereon, without limitation of value. All wearing apparel kept for actual use, and suitable to the condition of the party, and trunks to contain the same, one shot-gun, or rifle, the proper tools, instruments or books of any farmer, mechanic, surveyor, clergyman, lawyer, physician, teacher or professor; the horse or team, consisting of not more than two horses or mules, or two yoke of cattle and wagon with harness, by use of which any physician, public officer, farmer, teamster, or other laborer, habitually earns his living. All private libraries, family Bibles, portraits, pictures, musical instruments and paintings not kept for sale. If the debtor is the head of a family there are further exempt, two cows, one calf, one horse, fifty sheep, their wool and goods. manufactured therefrom, six stands of bees, five hogs and all pigs under six months; the necessary food for all animals exempt for six months; all flax raised by the defendant on not exceeding one acre; one bedstead and necessary bedding for every two in the family; all cloth manufactured by the defendant, not exceeding 100 yards in quantity; household and kitchen furniture not exceeding $200 in value; all spinning-wheels, one sewing-machine, looms, and other instruments of domestic labor kept for actual use; the necessary provisions and fuel for the use of the family for six months; a pew in church, and a lot in buryingground not exceeding one acre. The printer has

exempted the necessary type, presses, etc., for his office to the value of $1.200. The earnings of a debtor for personal services, or those of his family, at any time within ninety days next preceding the levy are also exempt from attachment and execution. None of the foregoing exemptions are for the benefit of a single man not the head of a family, nor of non-residents, nor of those who have started to leave the State, but their property is liable to execution, with the exception of ordinary wearing-apparel and trunks to contain the same; and, in the latter case, of such wearing apparel and such property as the defendant may select, not to exceed $75, to be selected by the debtor and appraised. But no exemptions shall extend to property against an execution issued for the purchase-money thereof.

KANSAS.-Home of 160 acres of Farm, or House and One Acre in a Village or City, and Per sonal Property.-A homestead to the extent of 160 acres of farming land, or of one acre within the limits of an incorporated town or city, occupied as a residence by the family of the owner, together with all the improvements on the same, shall be exempt from forced sale under any process of law, and shall not be alienated except by joint consent of husband and wife, when that relation exists. No money value is limited in the homestead. Exemptions do not affect indebtedness for taxes, purchase-money or improvement in homesteads. The law exempts, to heads of families, family books and musical instruments, a church pew, a burial lot, clothing, bedsteads, bedding, stoves and cooking utensils used by the household, one sewingmachine, all working tools, $500 worth of other household furniture, two cows, ten hogs, one yoke of oxen, and one horse or mule, or in lieu of one yoke of oxen and one horse or mule, a span of horses or mules, and twenty sheep and their wool; necessary food for the support of the stock for one year; one wagon, two plows, drag, and other farming utensils not exceeding $300; fuel and provisions for the family one year; the tools and implements of any mechanic, miner, or other person, kept for the purpose of carrying on his business, and in addition thereto stock in trade not exceeding $400 in value: library, implements, and office furniture of any professional man. Single persons may hold, exempt, their clothing, church pew, burial lot, 1ecessary tools and implements used in business, and stock in trade to the value of $400; if professional, their libraries, office furniture, etc., are exempt.

KENTUCKY.-Homestead worth $1.000 and Personal Property.-A dwelling house, land and appurtenances for homestead, worth $1,000. Two work beasts, or one and one yoke of oxen; two cows and calves; plows and agricultural Implements: growing crops; household furniture; books worth $50; ten head of sheep, worth $25; provi sions for family one year, and for stock to value of $70; washing apparatus worth $50; professional libraries and instruments worth $500; mechan. ics' tools worth $100; wages not exceeding $50.

LOUISIANA.-The Home and $2,000 in Personal Property.-The homestead lands and tenements of a debtor, whether in city or country, and without specifled money valuation, are exempt, if properly declared as such and recorded in the book of mortgages of the parish where the land is located. Heads of families also hold, exempt from execution, one work-horse and one wagon, or cart, one yoke of oxen, two cows and calves, twenty-five hogs (or 1,000 s of bacon or pork instead), and on a farm sufficient feed for the year and farming implements worth $2,000, together with clothing and necessary household furniture, bedding, etc.

MAINE.- Home worth $500, and Personal Property.-There is exempted a lot of land, dwelling-house, etc., not exceeding $500 in value; necessary apparel; a bed, bedstead and bedding for every two members of a family; one cookingstove, all stoves used for warming buildings, and other necessary furniture to the value of $50; one sewing-machine for use, not exceeding $100 in value; all tools necessary for the debtor's occupa tion; all Bibles and school-books for the use of the family, one copy of the statutes of the State, and a library not exceeding $150 in value; one heifer, two swine, ten sheep, and the wool and lambs from them; one yoke of working cattle, or instead thereof, one pair of mules, or two horses, not exceeding $300 in value; all produce of farms until harvested; corn and grain for use of debtor and family, not exceeding thirty bushels; all potatoes raised or purchased for use in family; one barrel of flour; a sufficient quantity of hay to winter all exempted stock; all flax raised for use, on one-half acre of land; lumber to the amount of $10, twelve cords of fire-wood, five tons of anthracite coal, fifty bushels of bituminous coal, and all charcoal for use in the family; one pew in church; domestic fowls to value of $50, one horse-sled or ox-sled, $20 in value; one harness worth $20 for each horse or mule; one cart or truck-wagon, one harrow, one plow, one yoke, two chains, and one

mowing-machine; for fishermen, one boat not exceeding two tons burthen.

MARYLAND.-No Homestead exemption, but Personal Property.-No home is secure from execution; but the law exempts to householders wearing apparel, books, and mechanics' tools (except books and tools kept for sale, or unless execution issues upon judgment for seduction or breach of promise of marriage), together with $100 worth of other property, to be selected by the debtor; or, in case no such division of the property can be agreed upon, then the debtor receives the equivalent of his exemption in money, after his goods have been sold. Equitable interests in personal property cannot be levied upon.

MASSACHUSETTS.-Home worth $800, and Personal Property-Every householder, hav ing a family, is entitled to a homestead, valued at $800, in farm, or lot of land, and buildings thereon, if he records his design to hold it as such. Necessary clothing, one bedstead, bed, and necessary bedding for every two of the family; one stove used for the dwelling, and fuel not exceeding the value of $20, for the use of the family; one sewing-machine, of a value not exceeding $100, in actual use by such debtor, or family; other household furniture necessary for him and his family, not exceeding $300 in value; Bibles, school-books, and library used by him or his family, not exceeding $50 in value; one cow, six sheep, one swine, and two tons of hay; the tools, implements and fixtures necessary for carrying on his trade or business, not exceeding $100 in value; materials and stock necessary for carrying on his trade or business, and intended to be used therein, not exceeding $100 in value; provisions necessary for the family not exceeding $50 in value; the boat, fishing tackle, and nets of fishermen, actually used by them in the prosecution of their bu iness, to the value of $100; the uniform of an officer or soldier in the militia, and the arms and accoutrements required by law to be kept by him; one pew in church, unless required to be sold because of some tax legally laid thereon, and shares in cooperative associations, not exceeding $20 in the aggregate; also rights of burial, and tombs while in use as repositories for the dead.

MICHIGAN.-Home worth $1,500, and Personal Property.-Any quantity of land, not exceeding forty acres, and the dwelling-house thereon, with its appurtenances, and not included in any recorded town plat, city or village, or, instead thereof, at the option of the owner, a quantity of land not exceeding in amount one lot, being within a recorded town plat, or city, or village, and the dwelling-house thereon, and its appurtenances, owned and occupied by any resident of the State, not exceeding in value $1,500. Household furniture to amount of $250; stock-in-trade, a team or other things which may be necessary to carry on the pursuit of particular business, up to $250; library and school-books not exceeding $150; to a householder, ten sheep, two cows, five swine, and their food for six months.

MINNESOTA.-Home of Eighty Acres in Farm Lands, or House and Lot in Village or City, and Personal Property-Eighty acres of land selected as a homestead, or a lot and dwellinghouse thereon in any incorporated town plat, city, or village, being a homestead; the family Bible, family pictures, school-books, or library, and musical instruments; all wearing apparel of the debtor and his family, all beds, bedsteads, and bedding kept and used by the debtor and his family; all stoves and appendages put up or kept for the use of the debtor and his family; all cooking utensils, and all other household furniture not herein enumerated, not exceeding $500 in value; three cows, ten swine, one yoke of oxen and a horse, or in lieu of one yoke of oxen and a horse, a span of horses or mules, twenty sheep and the wool from the same, either in the raw material or manufactured into cloth or yarn; the necessary food for all the stock mentioned in this section, for one year's support, either provided or growing, or both, as the debtor may choose; also, one wagon, cart, or dray, one sleigh, two plows, one drag, and other farming utensils, including tackle for teams, not exceeding $300 in value; seed-grain and vegetables; the provisions for the debtor and his family necessary for one year's support, either provided or growing, or both, and fuel necessary for one year; the tools and instruments of any mechanic, miner or other person, used and kept for the purpose of carrying on his trade, and, in addition thereto, stock-in-trade not exceeding $400 in value; also the library and implements of any professional man; one sewing-machine; the earnings of minor children and laboring men and women, not exceeding $20. None of these articles of personal property are exempt from execution or attachment for the purchase-money thereof.

MISSISSIPPI.-Home worth $2.000, and Personal Property.-A homestead is allowed to every householder, with a family, not exceeding