Articles of Agreement, Made this.

in the year One thousand nine hundred and two Between

ninth

day of June

Edward Baker

of the city of Binghamton, County of Broome, State of New York,

and.:

Nelson Hopkins

of the first part,

of the City of Syracuse, County of Onondaga, State of New York, of the second part, in the manner following: The said parties have and hereby do mutually covenant and agree as follows: The party of the first part to sell, and the party of the second part to purchase, All that Tract or Parcel of Land, situate in the... City ...of...

Binghamton

County of

Broome and State of New York, briefly described as follows: Beginning at a point one hundred (100) feet east of the northeasterly corner of Ashland Avenue and Summer Street, on the northerly line of Summer Street, and running thence northerly and parallel with Ashland Avenue one hundred and fifty (150) feet; thence easterly and parallel with Summer Street forty (40) feet; thence southerly and parallel with Ashland Avenue one hundred and fifty (150) feet; thence westerly along the northerly line of Summer Street to the place of beginning, for the sum of... twelve thousand

Dollars

($12,000.00), which sum the said party of the second part hereby agree s six thousand dollars to pay to the party of the first part as follows... ($6,000.00) on the first day of July, 1902, and six thousand dollars ($6,000.00) on the first day of January, 1903.

Said party of the second part also agrees to pay ALL taxes and assessments which shall be taxed or assessed upon said premises from the date hereof until the said sum shall be fully paid as aforesaid.

And the said party of the first part, on receiving such payment:

his

at the time and in the manner above mentioned, shall, at his —____ .own proper cost and expense, execute and deliver to the said party of the second part, or to...... assigns, a warranty deed, for the conveying and assuring to him, or them, the fee simple of the said premises.

It is agreed that the party of the second part shall have possession of said premises from and after. the first day of July, 1902.

And it is agreed that the stipulations aforesaid are to apply to and bind the heirs, executors, administrators and assigns of the respective parties.

In Witness Whereof, The said parties have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written.

[Acknowledgment by both parties (see p. 253). The contract is good without an acknowledgment, but could not be recorded.]

is necessary in order to prevent a subsequent sale to an innocent purchaser. The deed must be delivered to the grantee; usually this is a manual delivery, but less than this has been held to be sufficient where the intention was clear. A delivery in escrow is a delivery to a third person upon condition that the deed shall not take effect until some condition is fulfilled. An agent duly authorized by power of attorney may execute and deliver a deed for his principal (see sec. 119).

If a deed is made by a married man, it is usual to have his wife join in it; otherwise, should she survive him, she could claim her right of dower in the property conveyed. If a deed is made by a married woman, her husband should join in it in order to bar his possible estate by the curtesy. If property is owned jointly, the owners may convey by joining in one deed.

A deed consists of the following parts: (1) the premises, containing the names of the parties, sometimes the date though this may be at the end, a statement of the consideration and of its payment, the words of conveyance, and the description of the land; (2) the habendum or statement of the estate granted, beginning often but not always with the words "To have and to hold"; (3) any reservation that is to be made; (4) the covenants or warranties; (5) the conclusion, containing the statement that the grantor has signed and sealed, together with his signature and seal and the signatures of the witnesses, if any; (6) the acknowledgment before a notary of the due execution of the instrument.

170. Wills. Property may be transferred by will. In order that a will shall be valid it must be signed (in some states subscribed) by the testator and his signature attested by two or more witnesses. In some states the testator must actually sign in the presence of the witnesses and they in his presence and in the presence of each other. In many states one who is named as a beneficiary in the will and also signs it as a witness cannot take the devise or bequest; hence it is important that the witnesses should not be interested in the will.

As a will does not take effect until the death of a testator, a devise or bequest lapses if the donee dies before the testator,

of the City of Syracuse, County of Onondaga, and State of New York,

of the same place,.

Walter Cooke

of the first part, and

of the second part,

Witnesseth, That the said party of the first part, in consideration of the sum of

six thousand dollars

($6,000.00), lawful money of the United States, paid by the party of the second part, do es hereby grant and release unto the said party of the second part,... heirs and assigns forever,

his

of New York,..situate, lying and being in the tenth ward of the city of Syracuse, and known as lot numbered three hundred and thirty (330) on a "Map of Land in the city of Syracuse lying between Tenth and Twentieth Streets" and filed in the County Clerk's office of Onondaga County on the tenth day of June, 1899, bounded and described as follows, viz.: Commencing on the northwesterly corner of First Avenue and Thirteenth Street and running thence northerly along the westerly side of First Avenue forty-three (43) feet, thence westerly and parallel with Thirteenth Street eighty (80) feet, thence southerly and parallel with First Avenue forty-three (43) feet to the northerly side of Thirteenth Street, and thence easterly along the northerly side of Thirteenth Street eighty (80) feet to the place of beginning.

Together with the appurtenances, and all the estate and rights of the said part y of the first part in and to said premises. To have and to hold the above granted premises unto the said party of the second part,

assigns forever.

his

And the said Charles Lewis, party of the first part,

do es covenant with the said party of the second part as follows:

heirs and

premises in fee simple, and has good right to convey the same.

Second. - That the party of the second part shall quietly enjoy the said premises.

Third. Fourth.

That the said premises are free from incumbrances.

That the party of the first part will execute or procure any further

necessary assurance of the title of said premises.

Fifth.-That the said. Charles Lewis, party of the first part,

will forever warrant the title to said premises.

In Witness Whereof, The said party of the first part has here

hand and seal the day and year first above written.

to me personally known to be the same person described in and who executed

[A quitclaim deed would read like the above except that it would say "does hereby remise, release and forever quitclaim unto the said party," and would omit the warranties. A deed may be a gift, that is, the grantee may pay nothing. In such case it is usual to say "in consideration of one dollar to me in hand paid, and other good and sufficient consideration."]

unless, as in some states, the statute provides who shall take in that event. In case a devise of land lapses by the death of the devisee it will go to the testator's heirs, unless there be a residuary devise ("all the rest of my property to ———"), in which case in most states it will pass to the person named in the residuary clause, but in some it will even then go to the heir.

At common law the marriage of a woman after making her will revokes the will; but this has to some extent been changed by statutes. The marriage of a man after he makes his will, followed by the birth of a child, revokes his will; but this also has been in some states modified or regulated by statute. If a child is born after the will of a married man or woman is made, and there is no provision in the will for such after-born child, most states provide that the child shall take what would have descended to him had the parent died without a will.

In most states a person may not make a valid will of real property until he is twenty-one. This is also frequently so as to a will of personalty, but some states permit a will of personalty at eighteen. A person of unsound mind cannot make a valid will. The law of wills is so much a matter of statute that local legislation must be consulted in order that the necessary formalities may be observed and the intention of the testator consummated. It is not prudent for a person to make his will without good legal advice.

171. Descent to heirs. If an owner of real property dies without a will, the real estate (that is, any estate of inheritance) goes to the persons designated by law as his heirs, subject to the estate of dower or curtesy in a surviving wife or husband. The statutes provide who shall be deemed heirs. They are usually the following: first, children and the children of a deceased. child, the latter taking among them the share which their parent would have taken had he lived; second, if there be no lineal descendant, the father is generally named as the heir; third, if there be none of the above, the mother, brothers, and sisters, and descendants of deceased brothers and sisters; fourth, failing these, the land goes to collateral relatives beginning with the uncles and aunts on the father's side and their