The immoveable part of the succession may be situated in different countries, and the laws may differ on each of the subjects comprised in this chapter. It is assumed by J. Voet, that when the succession is in different countries, the heir may adiate that which is in one country, and repudiate that which is in another: "Denique, quia moribus hodiernis tot separatæ intelliguntur hæreditates, quot locis separatis, diverso jure circa successionem ab intestato utentibus, immobilia defuncti sita sunt, quoties non ex testamento sed ab intestato defertur successio, nihil vetat secundum Burgundum, (a) unius loci intuitu adire, et ratione alterius loci repudiare hæreditatem, dum forte in uno loco magis, in altero minus ad exsolvendum defuncti æs alienum hæres ex aditione obligatus efficitur; atque adeo, si defunctus in Flandriâ domicilium, in Hannoniâ fundos habuerit, integrum hæredi fore Hannonicorum fundorum successionem admittere, et hæreditati mobilium in Flandriâ renunciare, eâque viâ æris alieni onus subterfugere, cui in Hannoniâ nemo obstringitur, qui mobilia non attigerit. Quemadmodum ex adverso novum hodie non est, ut quis necessitate tantum pro parte hæreditatem adeat, licet ex asse à defuncto hæres scriptus sit, dum lex situs plurium immobilium ad defunctum pertinentium testamenti factionem reprobavit, solamque admisit legitimorum successionem. Sed et si jus repræsentationis in unâ regione latius sese extendat, quam in altera, facile contingit, eos, qui gradus remotioris sunt, concurrere cum proximioribus ad immobilia unius loci, vel etiam ad mobilia ex lege domicilii, à quibus ratione rerum alibi sitarum, ubi angustiori graduum numero repræsentatio adstricta est, in universum exclusi sunt, uti hæc latius in materiâ successionis ab intestato erunt." (b)

The acts of an instituted heir or devisee, if they are done in a country where the deceased was domiciled at

VOL. IV.

(a) Burgund. ad Cons. Fland. tract. 2, n. 17.

(b) Voet, lib. 29, tit. 2, n. 17.

TT

the time of his death, and where also part of his moveable property was situated, and where he had afterwards proved the will, would, it seems, be considered with reference to the law of that country, and if they would not according to that law, constitute a gestio pro hærede, they could not be held to have that effect in any country, although the laws of the latter would give them that effect.

The Earl of Findlater being domiciled in Saxony, by a deed of settlement executed in the Scotch form, conveyed his property of every description, consisting chiefly of Scotch heritable estates, to a near relation resident in Scotland, whom he also named his sole executor, reserving power to alter and to burden the succession with debts and legacies. This power was exercised by the granter, making first a donation mortis causá of his moveable, and afterwards a donation inter vivos of his immoveable property abroad, free of all debts and obligations whatever, in favour of a stranger, to whom besides he bequeathed large sums by deeds, conceived in the Scotch form, as burdens on the succession in Scotland. The donee having pursued the representative under the general settlement for payment of the legacies, and various sums appearing to be vouched under the hand of the deceased, the Court found that the defence arising from the conduct of the pursued in taking possession of the whole of the testator's papers contained in his private repositories at the time of his death, without judicial authority, and without inventory or witnesses, must be judged of according to the law of the foreign country where the act was committed. The act inferred no vicious intromission by the law of Saxony, and therefore the Court of Session refused to treat it as such, although it would have been so by the law of Scotland. (a) It is the opinion of jurists that the law of the country

(a) Fischer v. Earl of Seafield, F. C. May 24th, 1822.

in which the benefit of inventory was granted, and the inventory made, must determine whether it be effectual to limit the responsibility of the heir. (a) But this opinion must be understood to apply to that part of the succession which is moveable. Generally, with respect to immoveable property, where the entry with benefit of inventory is a proceeding less local than that in Scotland, it would seem that it is in all cases requisite to obtain it from the country where the immoveable property is situated.

(a) Lauterb. Disp. de Invent. Hered. thes. 15, n. 10, 11, 12. Voet, lib. 28, tit. 8, n. 11; lib. 5, tit. 1, n. 13.

CHAPTER XIV.

SEPARATION OF THE ANCESTOR'S ESTATE FROM THAT of

THE HEIR.

Right of separation to creditors of the ancestor and legatees under his will. -By judicial authority.-Systems of jurisprudence which adopt it.Effect of a sale or mortgage of the ancestor's estate before separation.— Right continues when the succession has devolved on the heir of the deceased heir.-Creditors having demanded separation, and failed in obtaining payment, may resort to heir's estate.-Effect of novation by heir of creditors' demand against the ancestor.-Right of separation does not belong to creditors of heir.-The creditors at whose instance separation is granted obtain the benefit of it.-The manner in which the preference of the ancestor's creditors is secured by the law of Scotland.

In England and the United States they enjoy their preference, and it is secured to them by the ample means which the equitable jurisdiction of a Court of Chancery affords for that purpose.

THE creditors of the ancestor and the legatees under his will are entitled to have his estate applied to the payment of their demands before the creditors of the heir can take any interest in it. To secure to them the full enjoyment of this right, and prevent its being defeated by the estate of the deceased being mixed up with that of the heir, they are entitled to obtain a separation of the estate of the ancestor from that of the heir. Such separation takes place under the authority of a judicial tribunal: "Solet separatio permitti creditoribus ex his causis, ut putà debitorem quis Seium habuit, hic decessit hæres ei extitit Titius: hic non est solvendo, patitur bonorum venditionem : creditores Seii dicunt bona Seii

sufficere sibi, creditores Titii contentos esse debere bonis Titii, et sic quasi duorum fieri bonorum venditionem ; fieri enim potest, ut Seius quidem solvendo fuerit, potueritque satis creditoribus suis, vel ita semel, et si non in assem, in aliquid tamen satisfacere: admissis autem commixtisque creditoribus Titii, minùs sint consecuturi, quia ille non est solvendo, aut minùs consequantur, quia plures sunt. Hic est igitur æquissimum, creditores Seii desiderantes separationem audiri, impetrareque à prætore, ut separatim quantum cujusque creditoribus præstetur." (a) "Est jurisdictionis tenor promptissimus, indemnitatisque remedium edicto prætoris creditoribus hæreditariis demonstratum, ut quoties separationem bonorum postulant causâ cognitâ, impetrent." (b)

"Quoties hæredis bona solvendo non sunt, non solum creditores testatoris, sed etiam eos quibus legatum fuerit, impetrare bonorum possessionem æquum est; ita ut, cùm creditoribus solidum acquisitum fuerit; legatariis vel solidum, vel portio quæratur." (c)

This remedy is adopted in the jurisprudence of Holland and Spain, by the coutumes of Paris and Normandy, and the Code Civil. (d)

A creditor or a legatee, whose right depends on a condition, which has not yet happened, or is suspended by a term which is not yet come, may, notwithstanding, demand the separation for his security: "Creditoribus qui ex die, vel sub conditione debentur, et propter hoc nondum pecuniam petere possunt, æque separatio dabitur, quoniam et ipsis cautione communi consuletur." (e)

If, before the separation was demanded, the heir without the intention of defrauding the creditors had alienated

(a) Dig. lib. 42, tit. 6, 1. 1, § 1. (c) Dig. ib. 1. 6.

(b) Cod. lib. 7, tit. 72, 1. 2.

(d) Voet, lib. 42, tit. 6, n. 1. L. 1, tit. 15, P. 6. Lauterb. disp. 126, de sepa

ratione. Poth. Tr. de Success. c. 5, art. 4, et introd. au titre 17, des Droits de

Success. n. 127. Merlin, Rep. tit. Separat. de Patr. Toullier, liv. 3, tit. 1, c. 6, n. 538. Duranton, liv. 3, tit. 1, des Success. § 2, n. 463.

(e) Dig. ib. I. 4.