will was probated, and in the manner provided for the settlement of the accounts of executors and administrators. For that purpose the trustee, or his legal representatives in case of his death, shall present to the court his verified petition, setting forth his accounts in detail, with a report showing the condition of trust estate, together with a verified statement of the trustee, giving the names and post-office addresses, if known, of the beneficiaries. Upon the filing thereof, the clerk shall fix a day for the hearing, and give notice thereof of not less than 10 days, by causing notices to be posted in at least three public places in the Canal Zone, setting forth the name of the trust estate, the trustee, and the day appointed for the settlement of the account. The court may order such further notice to be given as may be proper.

(c) The trustee may, in the discretion of the court, upon application of a beneficiary of the trust, or the guardian of a beneficiary, be ordered to appear and render his account, after being cited by service of citation, as provided for the service of summons in civil actions, and the application may not be denied where an account has not been rendered to the court within six months prior to the application. Upon the filing of the account so ordered, the same proceedings for the hearing and settlement thereof shall be had as provided in subsection (b) of this section.

§ 3782. Expenses and compensation of trustees

On an accounting the court shall allow the trustee or trustees the proper expenses and such compensation for services as it deems just and reasonable. The court shall apportion the compensation among the trustees according to the services rendered by them respectively. The court may fix a yearly compensation for the trustee or trustees to continue as long as the court deems proper.

§ 3783. Declination of trustee; filling vacancies; jurisdiction

(a) A person designated as a trustee in a will which is admitted to probate in the Canal Zone may, at any time before final distribution, decline to act as trustee, and an order of court shall thereupon be made accepting the resignation. The declination of a person who has qualified as trustee may not be accepted by the court, unless it is in writing and filed in the matter of the estate in the court in which the administration is pending, and such notice shall be given thereof as is required upon a petition praying for letters of administration.

(b) The court in which the administration is pending may at any time before final distribution appoint a proper person to fill a vacancy in the office of trustee under the will, whether resulting from declination, removal, or otherwise, if it is required by law or necessary to carry out the trust created by the will that the vacancy be filled. A person so appointed shall, before acting as trustee, give a bond as is required by section 1371 of this title of a person to whom letters of administration are directed to issue. The appointment may be made by the court upon the written application of any person interested in the trust filed in the probate proceedings, and shall only be made after notice to all parties interested in the trust, given in the same manner as notice is required to be given of the hearing upon the petition for the probate of a will.

(c) In each case under this section, the court may order such further notice as it deems necessary.

(d) In accepting a declination under the provisions of this section, the court may make and enforce any order which may be necessary for the preservation of the estate.

(e) This section applies where a final decree of distribution has not been made; but the jurisdiction given by this section does not exclude, in cases to which it applies, the jurisdiction now possessed by the dis

trict court.

4. Marriage license; application; waiting period; medical certificate or court order; fee; record; period of validity.

5. Who may celebrate marriages; license to celebrate.

6. Certifying, signing, return, and recording of license; marriage certificate.

7. Declaration when there is no record.

8. Acknowledgment and recording of declaration.

9. Test of validity of the marriage by suit.

10. Marriages contracted outside Canal Zone.

11. Offenses and penalties.

SUBCHAPTER II-PRE-MARITAL MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS

31. Medical examination required.

32. Laboratory tests.

33. Procedure upon return of examination.

34. Marriage license, without medical certificate, because of pregnancy.

35. Submission of specimen to laboratory; report in triplicate.

36. Protest after refusal of medical certificate and marriage license; hearing. 37. Health director to advise judge.

38. Appeal from order.

Subchapter I-General Provisions

§ 1. Marriage relation; consent; solemnization

Marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil contract, to which the consent of parties capable of making that contract is necessary. Consent alone does not constitute marriage; it must be followed by a solemnization authorized by this title.

§ 2. Capacity of minors to marry

(a) Except as provided by subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a male under 21 years of age or a female under 18 years of age may not enter into a marriage in the Canal Zone.

(b) A male 17 years of age or over and under 21, or a female 14 years of age or over and under 18, may enter into a marriage with the written consent of:

(1) his or her natural or adopted parents; or

(2) the parent having his or her custody if the parents are divorced; or

(3) one parent, if the other is dead, has deserted his or her family, or has been adjudged incompetent; or

(4) a legally appointed guardian if there is no parent qualified to give consent.

(c) The written consent required by subsection (b) of this section shall be sworn to and acknowledged before a person authorized to administer oaths, and shall state:

(1) the name and age of the minor;

(2) the name of the person whom the minor wishes to marry; and

(3) if the consent is executed by only one parent as provided by paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (b) of this section, the applicable circumstances referred to in those paragraphs.

§ 3. Proof of consent and solemnization

Consent to marriage and solemnization thereof may be proved under the same general rules of evidence as facts are proved in other cases. § 4. Marriage license; application; waiting period; medical certificate or court order; fee; record; period of validity (a) A marriage may not be celebrated in the Canal Zone unless a license to marry has first been secured from the office of the clerk of the district court in either division. If both parties to a proposed marriage are residents of the Republic of Panama and neither is a United States citizen, a license may not issue in the Canal Zone unless the parties have previously obtained a license to marry from the proper authorities in the Republic of Panama. A marriage license may not be issued to a leper except upon a certificate of approval by the health director of the Canal Zone Government. A license when issued shall be accompanied by a marriage certificate to be executed by the person celebrating the marriage.

(b) The application for a marriage license shall state:

(1) the name, address, age, color, and race of each of the persons to be married;

(2) the relationship, if any, of the persons, by consanguinity or affinity; and

(3) if either person has been previously married, the date and place of each previous marriage, the name of each former spouse, and the manner in which each previous marriage has been terminated.

(c) Except as provided by subsection (d) of this section, the clerk shall issue a marriage license, after application therefor, if:

(1) the application for the license is in accordance with subsection (b) of this section, and is accompanied by the written consent when required by section 2 of this title; and

(2) it appears to the clerk's satisfaction, from the sworn statements of the persons desiring to marry, or, if required by the clerk, from the sworn statement of another person, that no legal impediment to the marriage is known to exist.

(d) The clerk may not issue a marriage license until:

(1) the application therefor remains on file, open to the public, in his office, for three days before license is issued; and

(2) each of the persons desiring to be married has presented and filed with him either a medical certificate indicating that the examination required by subchapter II of this chapter has been made, or an order from the district court, as provided by that subchapter, directing him to issue the license.

(e) The Governor shall prescribe the form of the application for a marriage license, of the marriage license, and of the marriage certifi

cate.

(f) The clerk shall collect a fee of $2 upon the issuance of a marriage license, and shall keep a record of all licenses issued and of all applications for licenses, together with any written consent of parents or a parent or guardian or the health director accompanying the same.

The fee shall be disposed of in the same manner as other fees received by the clerk.

(g) A marriage license is valid for only 30 days, including the date it is issued.

§ 5. Who may celebrate marriages; license to celebrate

(a) A marriage may be celebrated in the Canal Zone only by a: (1) magistrate of the Canal Zone;

(2) minister in good standing in any religious society or denomination who resides in the Canal Zone; or

(3) minister in good standing in any religious society or denomination who resides in the Republic of Panama, if he has procured from the clerk of the district court for the Canal Zone a license authorizing the minister to celebrate marriages in the Canal Zone.

(b) The clerk shall issue the license provided for by paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of this section upon the submission, by a minister referred to therein, of a written application, together with a duly authenticated copy of his authority to celebrate marriages in the Republic of Panama. The clerk shall be paid a fee of $5 for issuing and recording the license. The fee shall be disposed of in the same manner as other fees received by the clerk.

§ 6. Certifying, signing, return, and recording of license; marriage certificate

(a) The judicial officer or minister celebrating a marriage shall: (1) certify upon the marriage license that he celebrated the marriage, giving his official title and the time when and place where the marriage was celebrated;

(2) cause two persons who witnessed the marriage to sign their names on the marriage license as witnesses, each giving his place of residence;

(3) at the time of the marriage, fill out and sign the marriage certificate accompanying the license and deliver it to one of the parties to the marriage; and

(4) within thirty days after the date of the marriage, return the license, so certified and witnessed, to the clerk who issued it. (b) Upon return of a license as required by subsection (a) of this section, the clerk shall file it after making registry thereof in a book to be kept in his office for that purpose only. The registry must contain the Christian and surnames of the parties, the time of their marriage, and the name and title of the person who celebrated the marriage.

§ 7. Declaration when there is no record

If a record of the solemnization of a marriage, heretofore contracted, is not known to exist, the parties may join in a written declaration of the marriage, substantially showing:

(1) the names, ages, and residences of the parties;

(2) the fact of marriage; and

(3) that a record of the marriage is not known to exist.

The declaration shall be subscribed by the parties and attested by at least three witnesses.

§ 8. Acknowledgment and recording of declaration

Declarations of marriage shall be acknowledged and recorded in the office of the clerk of the district court.

§ 9. Test of validity of the marriage by suit

If either party to a marriage denies the marriage, or refuses to join in a declaration thereof, the other may proceed, by action in the district court, to have the validity of the marriage determined and declared.

§ 10. Marriages contracted outside Canal Zone

Except as provided by section 73 of this title, marriages contracted outside the Canal Zone, which are valid under the laws of the country in which they were contracted, are valid in the Canal Zone. § 11. Offenses and penalties

(a) Whoever, being a judicial officer, minister qualified to celebrate marriages in the Canal Zone or a clerk of court, violates section 4, 5 or 6 of this title, shall be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned in jail not more than 30 days, or both.

(b) Whoever knowingly makes a false oath as to a material matter for the purpose of procuring or aiding another to procure a marriage license is guilty of perjury and shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than 10 years.

(c) Whoever knowingly files with the clerk a written consent, any signature to which is a forgery, is guilty of uttering a forged instrument and shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than 14 years.

(d) Whoever, not being qualified to celebrate marriages in the Canal Zone pursuant to this subchapter, celebrates what purports to be a marriage ceremony shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than 3 years.

Subchapter II-Pre-Marital Medical Examinations

§ 31. Medical examination required

Each person making application for a marriage license shall, at any time within 15 days prior to the application, be examined by a physician authorized to practice medicine in the Canal Zone as to the existence, or nonexistence of any stage of syphilis infection that is or is likely to become communicable.

§ 32. Laboratory tests

The medical examination required by section 31 of this title shall include a complete history, such physical examination as will reveal any existing clinical evidence of a syphilis infection, and a laboratory test or tests. Laboratory tests required by this subchapter shall be made by a laboratory approved by the health director of the Canal Zone Government. A laboratory test made by a government-operated hospital or clinic shall be made free of charge. Laboratory tests shall include a Kahn diagnostic test for syphilis, or other serological test for syphilis approved by the health director, or a Darkfield test for syphilis when moist lesions are present, or both tests. The medical certificate shall be made on a form prescribed by the health director. § 33. Procedure upon return of examination

If, on the basis of laboratory tests, and the medical exami nation, the examining physician finds no evidence of a syphilis infection, he shall issue a medical certificate to that effect to the applicant, and if he finds evidence of a syphilis infection, a medical certificate shall be withheld until the applicant has undergone additional clinical examination and laboratory tests, by the same or another physician authorized to practice medicine in the Canal Zone, to determine the existence or nonexistence of a syphilis infection. If the existence of a syphilis infection is determined, the applicant immediately becomes subject to regulations issued pursuant to section 911 of Title to prevent persons having a syphilis infection in a communicable stage from transferring the infection to other persons, and a medical certificate shall be issued only when the regulations for prevention of the spread of syphilis have been fully complied with.