1. How many kinds of guardianship are there?-220.
There are two; one by common law and one by statute.

2. How many kinds of guardianship were there at common law ?

-220.

Three; viz., guardian by nature, guardian by nurture, and guardian in socage.

3. Who is guardian by nature' ?-220.

The father.

4. If the father died, who was the guardian ?-220. The mother.

5. How far does this guardianship extend?-220.

It extends only to the custody of the person of the child, until the age of twenty-one years, and it yielded to guardianship in socage.

6. When does guardianship by nurture occur ?—221.

Only when the infant is without any other guardian, and it belongs exclusively to the parents, first to the father, and then to the mother. It extends only to the person, and determines when the infant arrives at the age of fourteen, in the case both of males and females. This guardianship is said to apply only to younger children, who are not heirs apparent; and as all the children inherit equally under our laws, it would seem that this species of guardianship has become obsolete. As it was concurrent with guardianship by nature, it is in effect merged in the higher and more durable title of guardian by nature.

7. What authority has the guardian in socage ?-222.. He has the custody of the infant's lands as well as his per

son. It applies only to lands which the infant acquires by descent; and the common law gave this guardianship to the next of blood to the child, to whom the inheritance could not possibly descend; and therefore, if the land descended to the heir on the part of the father, the mother, or next relation on the part of the mother, had the wardship; and so if the land descended to the heir on the part of the mother, the father, or his next of blood, had the wardship.

8. When do guardians in socage cease?-222.

When the child arrives at the age of fourteen years, for he is then entitled to elect his own guardian, and oust the guardian in socage, who is then accountable to the heir for the rents and profits of the estate.

9. What if the infant does not elect a guardian ?—222–224.

The guardian in socage continues. But the guardianship may be considered as gone into disuse, and can hardly exist in this country; for the guardian must be some blood relation who can not possibly inherit, and such a case can rarely exist. In New York, where an estate becomes vested in an infant, the guardianship, with the rights of a guardian in socage, belong by law to the father; if there be no father, to the mother; if there be no mother, then to the nearest and eldest relative of full age, not being under any legal incapacity; and as between relatives of the same degree of consanguinity, males are preferred. the rights of such guardian are superseded when a guardian is appointed by deed or will of the infant's father, or, in default thereof, by the surrogate of the county where the minor resides.

10. How are testamentary guardians appointed?-224, 225.

But

By the deed, or last will of the father, and they supersede the claims of any other guardian, extend to the person and estate of the child, and continue until he arrives at full age. It is a personal trust and is not assignable.

11. Who are chancery guardians ?-227.

Guardians appointed by the Court of Chancery, or other tribunals, having jurisdiction in testamentary matters. The

chancery guardian continues until the majority of the infant, and is not controlled by the election of the infant when he arrives at the age of fourteen. If there be no testamentary guardian, surrogates and judges of probate have generally power to appoint a guardian in as ample a manner as the chancellor, and on due cause to remove him and appoint another in his stead.

12. In whom does the general jurisdiction over guardians reside?

-227.

In the Court of Chancery. They may be cited and compelled to appear before the surrogate, but his powers are not exclusive. A guardian appointed by the surrogate or by will is as much under the control of chancery, and of the power of removal by it, as if he were appointed by the court.

13. What is the practice in chancery on the appointment of a guardian ?—227.

The practice is to require a master's report approving of the person and security offered. The court may, in its discretion, appoint one person guardian of the person, and another guardian of the estate; in like manner, as in cases of lunatics and idiots, there may be one committee of the person, and another of the estate. The guardian or committee of the estate always is required to give adequate security, but the committee of the person gives none.

14. What are the legal responsibilities of a guardian to his ward?

-229-231.

His trust is one of obligation and duty, and not of speculation and profit. He can not reap any benefit from the use of his ward's money. He can not act for his own benefit in any contract, or purchase, or sale, as to the subject of the trust. If he settles a debt upon beneficial terms, or purchases it at a discount, the advantage is to accrue entirely to the infant's benefit. He is liable to an action of account at common law, by the infant, after he comes of age; and the infant, while under age, may, by his next friend, call the guardian to account by a bill in chancery. Every guardian is bound to keep safely the real and personal estate of his ward, and to account for the personal estate,

and for the issues and profits of the real estate; and if he suffers any waste, sale or destruction of the inheritance, he is liable to be removed, and to answer in treble damages. If the guardian has been guilty of negligence in the keeping or disposition of the infant's funds, whereby the estate has incurred a loss, the guardian will be obliged to sustain that loss. If the guardian puts the ward's money in trade, the ward will be entitled to elect to take the profits of the trade, or the principal, with compound interest, to meet those profits when the guardian will not disclose them. So, if he neglects to put the ward's money at interest, but negligently suffers it to lie idle, or mingles it with his own, the court will charge him with simple interest, and in cases of gross delinquency, with compound interest. These principles apply to trustees of every kind.

1. From what does the necessity of guardians result, and how long does this inability continue in contemplation of law?-232-234.

It results from the inability of infants to take care of themselves; and it continues in contemplation of law, until the infant has attained the age of twenty-one years. The age of twenty-one is the period of majority for both sexes, according to the English common law, and that age is completed on the day preceding the anniversary of the person's birth. The age of twenty-one is probably the period of absolute majority throughout the United States, though female infants, in some of them, have enlarged capacity to act at the age of eighteen. In Vermont and Ohio, females are deemed of full age in respect to contracts, at the age of eighteen. Louisiana and France follow in this respect the common law period of limitation, though entire majority by the civil law, as to females as well as males, was not until the age of twenty-five; and Spain and Holland follow, as to males, the rule of the civil law. Nor can infants do any act

to the injury of their property, which they may not avoid, or rescind, when they arrive at full age. The responsibility of infants for crimes by them committed, depends less on their age, than on the extent of their discretion and capacity to discern right and wrong.

2. Which of an infant's acts are void, and which voidable?—

234-238.

Most of the acts of infants are voidable only; and it is deemed sufficient if the infant be allowed, when he attains maturity, the privilege to affirm or avoid, in his discretion, his acts done and contracts made in infancy; but the precise line of distinction is difficult to ascertain. If his deed or contract be voidable only, it is nevertheless binding on the adult with whom he dealt, so long as it remains executory, and is not rescinded by the infant; it is also a rule that no one but the infant or his legal representatives can avoid his voidable deed or contract. The books appear to leave the question in some obscurity, when and to what extent a positive act of confirmation on the part of the infant is necessary. The English cases seem to place the infant's exemption on his repudiation of the contract within a reasonable time after his attaining majority, while the American cases seem to decide that his contract is not binding unless there be some act on his part, after arriving at the age of twenty-one years, showing an intention to ratify. The suitable course to be adopted by a person who does not mean to stand by a contract made in infancy, is to disaffirm it by some act equally solemn with that by which the contract was originally made.

3. What acts are binding on infants ?-239.

Contracts for necessaries are binding upon an infant, and he may be sued and charged in execution on such a contract, provided the articles were necessary for him under the circumstances and condition in which he was placed.

4. How is the question of necessaries governed ?-239, and note 2. By the real circumstances of the infant, and not by his ostensible situation; and, therefore, the tradesman who trusts him is bound to make due inquiry, and if the infant has been