study, for a thorough perception of it is quite necessary to a proper comprehension of what is to follow.

In conclusion, it only remains to point out that in the descent of real property the doctrine of

representation applies in whatever degree of kinship the heirs may be; but as regards personal property, it does not extend among collateral relatives after brothers' and sisters' descendants. And, lastly, if all the heirs or next kin are in equal degree to the intestate, the doctrine does not apply at all.

62. Distinction between real and personal property.

Generally speaking all land is to be treated as real property, and everything else as personal property, but in actual practice it has been found impossible to so easily classify all forms of man's possessions. Thus, land which the decedent had

contracted to sell, but the deed for which had not been given before his death, descends to his heirs as land, but subject to the right of the purchaser to pay the purchase price and demand a deed; the price when paid is personal property and goes to the administrator to be divided among the next of kin. On the other hand, where the decedent had contracted to purchase land, the money which the administrator uses to complete the purchase becomes land and passes to the heirs. So, too, the law treats as land the interest of an owner of mortgaged premises until a sale; also his interest in lands condemned by the public authorities for public uses, until an award of damages has been made. A church pew has been said to be real property, as also things affixed to the land, or the buildings thereon, and necessary to the enjoyment thereof, except those intended for purposes of trade and manufacture. And in the same class are to be placed growing trees, fruit. and grass, which flourish by themselves and require no cultivation, but as soon as they are cut and thus severed from the freehold they at once become personal property.

In the old days before the Civil War, even slaves were in some states deemed to be real property upon the theory that they were annexed to the land as fixtures.

Sometimes land is to be considered personal property, as where a mortgage is foreclosed by an administrator and the premises in question are bought in on the sale. In all such cases the land takes the place of the mortgage and like it becomes personal property. So too, lands in which partners have invested their money and which they have agreed to treat as personal property retain that character, and upon the death of one of them, his share of the land passes to his next of kin.

Leases for a term of years, or from year to year, policies of insurance, bonds, notes, goods, accounts and money, and every other species of chattel are deemed to be personal property.

But all these legal niceties and distinctions need not confuse the reader, for it still remains true that all lands and things permanently fixed to them are real property, and everything else personalty. In every case where what was land before the owner's death has been regarded as personal property afterwards, and vice versa, it has been because, in contemplation of law, the change really took place before the owner's death. For instance, the case of the man who contracts to sell his land and dies before giving the deed is quite in point. As soon as the contract is

signed, the sole interest of the land owner is the right to receive the proceeds, which is personal property; while the purchaser becomes entitled upon paying the price to receive a deed, and in the eyes of the law he is then the equitable owner of the land, even though no deed has yet been given. One thing is certain, that the character of a man's property is fixed by his death, and cannot afterwards be altered so as to prejudice the rights of his heirs which become vested by that event.

63. Application of the statutes as affected by locality of property.

It is universally conceded, both in England and in this country, that so far as concerns the descent of real property the law of the state or country where it is situated is controlling, while as respects the intestate succession of personalty, the law of the decedent's place of residence will govern, no matter where the property may actually be. Whenever, therefore, the courts of one state are called upon to direct distribution of assets belonging to a non-resident, they will be guided by the laws of his domicile, even though in so doing they violate the laws of their own. Thus, where the decedent was a resident of Louisiana, where the civil law is still recognized, the widow's claim to

share in the assets as community property will be recognized everywhere, although unknown to the common law. In other words, as once expressed by a well-known judge, "it is an established doctrine, not only of international law, but of the municipal law of this country, that personal property has no locality. It is subject to the law which governs the person of the owner, as well in respect to the disposition of it by act inter vivos, as to its transmission by last will and testament, and by succession upon the owner dying intestate."

And so, where a non-resident's estate happens to come under the control of a local probate court for administration, it is usual, after the domestic creditors are provided for, to direct the transmission of the funds to the foreign domicile, there to await distribution according to its laws.

64. Rights of widow.

In the first place it must be understood that a husband and wife are neither heirs nor next of kin of each other. Hence, whatever either receives on the death of the other is not in that capacity, but is solely by virtue of his or her marital rights. That is, for example, what the widow takes as her share of her intestate husband's estate, she takes in her right as widow and not as his heir or next of kin.