Occasional Notes.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 66, 14 October 1875, Page 6

Occasional Notes.

By Colonus.

the !law Ofc Descent! of'land,

When arrive in-these colonies! they seem' to )os!e'somewhat of that greatirespect for, and;adherence to tiraehoriored laws arid' which jis a striking cbarac'teristic of );he pejoplepf the p]d'poultry.' The': influence of. the feudal system - is; still felt in. Great Britain, ;and is exemplified by! the inordinate respeptshown by the'laiv till very lately: for landed property. "Up to within a. late period, viz.,-the 1 reign of King "William. IV., lan d of ,which. a man died possessed was not ■ subject to the payment •of the . general .debts of the deceased, unless the owner, had-willed the hind to trustees, qh .tnistjto pay-,his debts j consequently the- nehy or. devisee, that if, a;.person ' triking',thes'larid underawjll, couldhold'tiiejlandin spite, of the creditors. Even :up to a still later period, after land had! been made subject to the general ebbts of the deceased person', it. was necessary ; fdr the creditors .before they .could, obtain.,ithe. land for payment ol their debts, to.ifile a bill in equity against the ;heir 'or.devisee of the land, or, o'tlier words,--to have -resort to the Court of Chancery— a , tedious" proceeding,,. attended. with great, delay and vast expense.!, ; The law relating'to the .descent of.land iS; a remnant, of theifeudal/syste^,!and a result of; that ancient and warlike'policy. To whatever extent the law may have" been suitable in earlier days,- -thet' absurdity and inj ustice, arid .probably. impolicy of it, has pf ; late years been strongly forced upon the attention ; of the community; yet. s'p profound, is : the respect for ancient law and. old institutions in Great Britain, that; though;tbe inhabitants of the British Isles, have talked ,a great deal about the law of primogeniture! for a considerable'period, they have never yet ventured,to touch it.. No doubt hasty legislation isinubh to be deprecated, and a, certain amount of reverence for the; time*-honored laws and institutions, of our ancestors is com- : mendable, but a blind, and too stubborn • attachment to. the ; antique is neither desirable nor profitable.; We; are,: not, quite so chary hereabouts as to touching the remnants of past ages, and are apt occasionally to sweep them out,ot*our way with considerable alacrity.. I was 1 not aware that ia this colony there was any immediate intention of making an alteration as to the law of descent of land, or that a proposal to do so was', as we say. on the carpet; and now I take up a newspaper, arid lo ! and behold] I see the thing is done; .pone in a way that is, and rather a silly way, if I am not mistaken ; that is to say, the ac # t is only a sort of half measure instead of a thorough one. As far as, I understand from a brief account of the act which I have perused, under the new law, which came into operation on the first.of this nionth, when a man dies,, possessed •of land.and without, making ,a will,.the land will no longer descend to the eldest son of the deceased, to. the exclusion of his brothers and. sisters; but will; go as if it was personal estate, such as money or goods, to the personal representative of the deceased, according to the statute of distributions, as if it was personal estate. The new law, however, it appears, applies to this single ..case only; | viz., of a man dying leaving a will or i children, or other lineal. descendant surviving him. It does 'not apply to the case of a woman, or of a childless, widower, or of a bachelor,, dying "possessed of land and. leaving- no will. Thus, notwithstanding the new act, if a woman possessed of land should die without making a will and leaving a family, her eldest! son would inherit; the whole of the land to;the.exclusionofhis< brothers and sisters.' If a childless; widower or, a bachelor should die possessed of land, and without leaving a will, it might happen that the whole estate, would pass to a nephew or even a ,very distant relative, in exclusion of his own sisters. Of course the law only applies where a person possessed, of land dies intestate, that is without making a will which deals with the land, and it only applies to .what we are accustomed to call freehold, and distinguished from leasehold estate. Why the operation of the new law should be limited and restricted as it is, and apply to only one' case, and why our legislature, when they were about it,' did not make landed estate, which has not been pass i in all cases to the personal representa- \ tire of the deceasea, and be dealt with j like personal property, is to mc, uttei'ly I incomprehensible. Surely the law as to the descent of land in New' Zealand, will not be allowed to remain long in the anomalous and very unsatisfactory state it is left in by this act.