APPENDIX II. NOTES OF THE ORIGINAL REVISERS OF THE REVISED STATUTES ON THE Originals of the Sections Now Incorporated in the Decedent Estate Law Chapter 13, Consolidated Laws, Enacted by Chapter 18, Laws of 1909. [541] NOTES OF THE ORIGINAL REVISERS OF THE REVISED STATUTES Original Preliminary Note of Revisers with Chapter VI, Part II, R. S. (2 R. S. 56). "Of Wills and Testaments; of the distribution of the Estates of Intestates; and of the rights, powers and duties of executors and administrators." 1 "The following chapter will be found to contain new provisions of a greater number, extent and importance, than any that has been presented to the legislature. From all quarters of the state, the Revisers have heard complaints of the defects of the existing law, upon the subject of wills and executors and administrators, and numerous amendments have been suggested to them. They have bestowed their utmost attention, and have exerted all the faculties they possess, in an effort to reduce this branch of law into some other, to condense the floating practice and decisions, to settle the most vexed and perplexing questions, and to present to every man who is called upon to act as an executor or administrator, a plain and practical guide for his conduct. The labor it has cost will have been well bestowed, if so much only is accomplished, as to inform the officer intrusted with the delicate and responsible powers of a surrogate, of the extent of his authority, and the means of enforcing it. "It is a singular circumstance, that while on every other subject of legislation this state has kept pace with the other states of the Union, and on most subjects have surpassed them in improvements on the English law, yet upon this topic we are behind almost every other state. So early as 1798, an excellent system was adopted in the state of Maryland, altogether superior to any then in existence. Massachusetts, the New England States generally, and Virginia, have at different times revised their statutes on the subject of wills and the administration of estates, and have inserted provisions adapted to the wants and situation of our country. "In this state we have contented ourselves with re-enacting the British statutes, with few and slight alterations; and we have piled up the various and discordant acts of the English Parliament, without any attempt to reconcile them, to remove their ambiguities, or to remedy their defects. The law and practice of the ecclesiastical courts in England, before which the statutes on this subject come under consideration, have, until a very 1 Refers to chap. VI, 2 R. S. 56, now incorporated in article II, Decedent Estate Law. recent period, been hidden mysteries; and our own courts have been called upon to expound the statutes borrowed from England, with but little aid from the decisions in that country. "We have felt that a more useful and acceptable service could not be performed, than to adapt the written law to the actual existing law; where that was settled, to express it in intelligible language and to incorporate provisions which would terminate the uncertainty that now prevails over a large part of the subject. The prominent objects of the chapter are these: "1. To prescribe distinctly the mode of executing wills of personal as well as real estate, to declare their construction and effect, and to define the cases in which implied revocations take place. A reference to the notes to Title I., will fully explain the views of the Revisers on these points. "2. To secure responsibility in executors and administrators, and vigilance in the discharge of their duties. For this purpose means are provided to ascertain their qualifications; and in the event of their being or becoming incompetent, to have others appointed in their places. "3. To afford creditors full information of all the proceedings of executors, etc., and an opportunity of investigating them. "4. To protect administrators, etc., in the honest discharge of their duties, to point out those duties explicitly, and to enable them to have a settlement of their accounts without resort to a court of chancery. In every other state whose laws we have consulted, provisions are found for the settlement of these accounts. In this state only, so far as we can discover, are administrators, etc., left exposed to prosecution for an indefinite length of time. This is the more remarkable, as under our colonial government a practice prevailed of granting a quietus to an executor, by the judge of the court of probate, upon a settlement of accounts. In thus restoring the ancient practice, we have proposed the introduction of guards and restrictions, which will equally protect creditors. "5. The greatest object, however, has been, to effect the settlement of the estates of deceased persons, as speedily as possible, and to cause a distribution to be made. Various provisions are inserted for this purpose. One is, to make it the interest of creditors to present their demands and have them ascertained, without suit. Another is, to compel an account by the administrator, etc., at the instance of creditors and relatives. A third is, to prohibit an executor of an executor from administering as such on the estate of the first testator, but to compel him to take out letters of administration and give bonds. "6. To provide means for the payment of legacies and the shares of the next of kin, by executors, etc., without making themselves personally responsible. "7. In relation to the sale of real estate, to guard against the great abuses which are known to exist, by defining clearly the cases in which a sale may be made; by prescribing the prerequisites, minutely; by requiring |