CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE.

DESCENTS.

Descents.

SEC. 940. CHILDREN.-On the death of any person seized of an estate in fee simple in lands, tenements, or hereditaments in the District of Columbia, and intestate thereof, the same shall descend in fee simple to such person's kindred in the following order, namely: First. To his child or children and their descendants, if any, equally.

SEC. 941. ESTATE DESCENDED FROM FATHER.-If there be no child or descendant of a child, and the estate descended to the intestate on the part of the father, then to the brothers and sisters of the intestate, of the blood of the father, and their descendants equally.

SEC. 942. If there be no brother or sister, as aforesaid, or descendant from a brother or sister, then to the grandfather on the part of the father; and if no such grandfather living, then to the descendants of such grandfather and their descendants in equal degree equally; and if no descendant of such grandfather, then to the father of such grandfather, and if none such living, then to the descendants of such father in equal degree; and so on, passing to the next lineal male paternal ancestor, and if none such, to his descendants in equal degree equally, without end.

SEC. 943. If there be no paternal ancestor or descendant from such ancestor, then to the mother of the intestate, and if no mother living, then to her descendants in equal degree equally.

SEC. 944. If there be no mother living, or descendants from such mother, then to the maternal ancestors and their descendants, in the same manner as is above directed as to the paternal ancestors and their descendants.

Children.

Estate descended from father.

Estate descended

SEC. 945. ESTATE DESCENDED FROM MOTHER.-If the estate descended to the intestate on the part of the mother, and said intestate shall leave from mother. no child or descendant of a child surviving him, then the estate shall go to his brothers and sisters, of the blood of the mother, and their descendants in equal degree equally.

SEC. 946. If there be no such brother or sister or descendant of such brother or sister, then to the grandfather on the part of the mother, and if no such grandfather living, then to his descendants in equal degree equally; if no such descendant of such grandfather, then to the father of such grandfather, and if none such living, then to his descendants in equal degree; and so on, passing to the next male maternal ancestor, and, if none such living, to his descendants in equal degree equally.

SEC. 947. If there be no such maternal ancestor or descendant from such maternal ancestor, then to the father, and if no father living, then to his descendants in equal degree equally; and if no father or descendant from the father, then to the paternal ancestors and their descendants, in the same manner as herein before directed as to the maternal ancestors.

Estate acquired

SEC. 948. ESTATE ACQUIRED BY PURCHASE.-If the estate was acquired by the intestate by purchase, or descended to or vested in him in any by purchase. other manner than as herein before mentioned, and there be no child or descendant of a child of such intestate, then the estate shall descend to his brothers and sisters of the whole blood and their descendants in equal degree equally.

SEC. 949. HALF-BLOOD BROTHERS AND SISTERS.-If there be no Half-blood brother or sister of the whole blood, or descendant of such brother or brothers and sissister, then to the brothers and sisters of the half blood and their descendants in equal degree equally.

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ters.

Paternal and SEC. 950. PATERNAL AND MATERNAL ANCESTORS ALTERNATELY.-If maternal ancestors there be no brother or sister of the whole or the half blood, or any alternately. descendant from such, then to the father, and if no father living, then to the mother, and if no mother living, then to the grandfather on the part of the father, and if no such grandfather living, then to the descendants of such grandfather in equal degree equally; and if no such grandfather or any descendant from him, then to the grandfather on the part of the mother, and if no such grandfather, then to his descendants in equal degree equally; and so on without end, alternating the next male paternal ancestor and his descendants, and the next male maternal ancestor and his descendants, and giving preference to the paternal ancestor and his descendants.

Husband and

wife.

Trust estates.

Heir must be

death of ancestor.

SEC. 951. HUSBAND AND WIFE. If there be no descendants or kindred of the intestate, as aforesaid, to take the estate, then the same shall go to the husband or wife, if any, as the case may be; and if the husband or wife be dead, then to his or her kindred, in the like course as if such husband or wife had survived the intestate and had then died entitled to the estate by purchase; and if the intestate has had more husbands or wives than one, and all shall have died before such intestate, then the estate shall be equally divided among the kindred of the several husbands or wives in equal degree equally.

SEC. 952. TRUST ESTATES.-Whenever a trustee is seized of the naked legal estate in any lands, tenements, or hereditaments in fee simple, and shall die intestate thereof, the said legal estate shall be deemed to have descended to such person or persons as would inherit the beneficial estate if the same were vested in him according to the provisions aforesaid.

SEC. 953. HEIR MUST BE SUCH AT TIME OF DEATH OF ANCESTOR.such at time of No right in the inheritance shall accrue to or vest in any person other than the children of the intestate and their descendants, unless such person is in being and capable in law to take as heir at the time of the intestate's death; but any child or descendant of the intestate born after the death of the intestate shall have the same right of inheritance as if born before his death.

When whole

Representation.

SEC. 954. WHEN WHOLE AND HALF BLOOD TAKE EQUALLY.-There and half blood shall be no distinction between brothers and sisters of the whole and take equally. of the half blood, all being descendants of the same father, where the estate descended on the part of the father, nor between the brothers and sisters of the whole and the half blood, all being descendants of the same mother, where the estate descended on the part of the mother. SEC. 955. REPRESENTATION.-If in the descending or collateral line any father or mother shall be dead, leaving a child or children, such child or children shall, by representation, be considered in the same degree as the father or mother would have been if living, and shall have the same share of the estate as the father or mother if living would have been entitled to, and no more; and in such case, when there are more children than one, the share aforesaid shall be equally divided among such children.

Coparcenary.

Antenuptial

children.

Illegitimate chil

dren.

SEC. 956. COPARCENARY.-There shall be no estate in coparcenary in the District, and where two or more persons inherit from an intestate by virtue of the provisions aforesaid they shall be tenants in

common.

SEC. 957. ANTENUPTIAL CHILDREN.-If any man shall have a child or children by any woman whom he shall afterwards marry, such child or children, if acknowledged by the man, shall, in virtue of such marriage and acknowledgment, be legitimated and capable in law of inheriting and transmitting heritable property as if born in wedlock.

SEC. 958. ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN. The illegitimate child or children of any female and the issue of such illegitimate child or children shall be capable in law of taking real estate by inheritance from their

mother, or from each other, or from the descendants of each other, as the case may be; and where such illegitimate child or children shall die leaving no descendants or brothers or sisters, or the descendants of such brothers or sisters, then and in that case the mother of such illegitimate child or children, if living, shall be entitled as heir to the real estate of such illegitimate child or children, and if the mother be dead, the heirs of the mother shall take in like manner as if such illegitimate child or children had been born in lawful wedlock.

Advancements

SEC. 959. ADVANCEMENTS.-Any child or children of an intestate, or their issue, who may have received from the intestate any real estate to be brought into

by way of advancement may elect to come into partition with his other hotchpot.

heirs on bringing such advancement, or the value thereof at the time such advancement was received, into hotchpot with the estate descended; but such child or children, or their issue, shall not be entitled to claim a share by descent without bringing such advancement, or the value thereof as aforesaid, into the common stock or hotchpot, if there be another child or children unprovided for:

Where person

Provided, That if any child or children or descendant shall have been advanced by the intestate by settlement or portion of personalty, alty treated as real which shall not be equalized under the provisions of section three estate. hundred and seventy-nine of this code, such advance shall be treated as real estate for the purposes of this section.

SEC. 960. ALIEN ANCESTORS.-In making title by descent it shall be no bar to a party claiming as heir that any ancestor, whether living or dead, through whom he derives his descent from the intestate is or has been an alien.

Alien ancestors.

SEC. 961. PARTY COMMITTING MURDER OR MANSLAUGHTER TAKES NO Party commitINTEREST IN ESTATE OF DECEASED.-No person who shall be convicted ting murder or of the felonious homicide of another, either by way of murder or man- takes no interest manslaughter slaughter, shall take any estate or interest of any kind whatsoever in in estate of deany kind of property whatsoever from that other by way of inherit- ceased. ance, distribution, devise, or bequest, or shall take any remainder, reversion, or executory interest dependent upon the death of that other; and the estate or interest or property to which the person so convicted would have succeeded or would have taken in any way from or after the death of the person so killed by him shall go as if the person so convicted had died before the person whom he shall be convicted of killing. And every policy of insurance procured, directly or indirectly, by the person so convicted for his own benefit or payable to him upon the life of the person so killed shall be void. This act shall not affect the rights of bona fide purchasers of any such property for value without notice.

When lands es

SEC. 962. WHEN LANDS ESCHEAT.-Any lands within the District of Columbia of which any person has died or shall hereafter die seized in cheat. fee simple, without any heir of the whole blood who could have inherited if he had been a citizen of the United States, or without leaving any relation of the half blood within two degrees, that is, first cousins as the same are reckoned by the common law, shall escheat to the United States.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

DIVORCE.

SEC. 963. PETITION.-All applications for divorce or for a decree annulling a marriage shall be made by petition to the supreme court of the District, and the proceedings thereupon shall be the same as in equity causes, except so far as otherwise herein provided.

SEC. 964. PROOF REQUIRED.-No decree for a divorce, or decree annulling a marriage, shall be rendered on default, without proof; nor

Divorce.

Petition.

Proof required.

annul

Decree ling marriage.

Adultery only a

shall any admission contained in the answer of the defendant be taken as proof of the facts charged as the ground of the application, but the same shall, in all cases, be proved by other evidence.

SEC. 965. DECREE ANNULLING MARRIAGE. A decree annulling the marriage as illegal and void may be rendered on any of the grounds mentioned in chapter forty-three as invalidating a marriage.

SEC. 966. CAUSES FOR DIVORCE A VINCULO AND FOR DIVORCE A cause for divorce MENSA ET THORO.-A divorce from the bond of marriage may be granted only where one of the parties has committed adultery during the marriage:

a vinculo.

-innocent par

ty may remarry.

Provided, That in such case the innocent party only may remarry, but nothing herein contained shall prevent the remarriage of the -divorced par- divorced parties to each other:

ties may remarry each other.

Avoidance

of

And provided, That legal separation from bed and board may be granted for drunkenness, cruelty, or desertion:

And provided, That marriage contracts may be declared void in the marriage con- following cases:

tracts.

In suits for divorce a vinculo divorce a mensa et thoro may be decreed.

Revocation of

First. Where such marriage was contracted while either of the parties thereto had a former wife or husband living, unless the former marriage had been lawfully dissolved.

Second. Where such marriage was contracted during the lunacy of either party (unless there has been voluntary cohabitation after the lunacy) or was procured by fraud or coercion.

Third. Where either party was matrimonially incapacitated at the time of marriage and has continued so.

Fourth. Where either of the parties had not arrived at the age of legal consent to the contract of marriage (unless there has been voluntary cohabitation after coming to legal age), but in such cases only at the suit of the party not capable of consenting.

SEC. 967. FOREGOING SECTION NOT RETROACTIVE.-The provisions of this Act shall not invalidate any marriage heretofore solemnized according to law, or affect the validity of any decree or judgment of divorce heretofore pronounced.

SEC. 968. IN SUITS FOR DIVORCE A VINCULO DIVORCE A MENSA ET THORO MAY BE DECREED. Where a divorce from the bond of marriage is prayed for the court shall have authority to decree a divorce from bed and board if the causes proved be sufficient to entitle the party to such relief only.

SEC. 969. REVOCATION OF DIVORCE A MENSA ET THORO.-In all cases divorce a mensa et where a divorce from bed and board is decreed it may at any time thereafter be revoked by the court upon the joint application of the parties to be discharged from the operation of the decree.

thoro.

Causes arising after divorce mensa et thoro.

Only residents divorced.

Issue of a marriage annulled.

SEC. 970. CAUSES ARISING AFTER DIVORCE A MENSA ET THORO. a Where a divorce from bed and board has been decreed the court may afterwards decree an absolute divorce between the parties for any cause arising since the first decree and sufficient to entitle the complaining party to such decree.

SEC. 971. ONLY RESIDENTS DIVORCED.-No decree of nullity of marriage or divorce shall be rendered in favor of anyone not a resident of the District of Columbia, and no divorce shall be decreed in favor of any person who has not been a bona fide resident of said District for at least three years next before the application therefor for any cause which shall have occurred out of said District and prior to residence therein.

SEC. 972. ISSUE OF A MARRIAGE ANNULLED.-In case any marriage shall be declared by decree to have been void on account of either party having a former wife or husband living, if it shall appear that said marriage was contracted in good faith by the other party and in ignorance of said obstacle to the marriage, that fact shall be found and

declared by the decree, and in such case the issue of said marriage shall be deemed to be the legitimate issue of the parent who was capable of contracting.

Issue of a luna

SEC. 973. ISSUE OF A LUNATIC'S MARRIAGE. Where a marriage is declared null and void on account of the idiocy or lunacy of either tic's marriage. party at the time of the marriage the issue of the marriage shall be

deemed legitimate.

dissolved.

SEC. 974. LEGITIMACY OF ISSUE OF A MARRIAGE DISSOLVED. A Legitimacy of divorce for any of the causes herein provided for shall not affect the issue of a marriage legitimacy of the issue of the marriage dissolved by such divorce, but the legitimacy of such issue, if questioned, shall be tried and determined according to the course of the common law.

Alimony

SEC. 975. ALIMONY PENDENTE LITE. During the pendency of a suit for divorce, or a suit by the husband to declare the marriage null dente lite. and void, where the nullity is denied by the wife, the court shall have power to require the husband to pay alimony to the wife for the maintenance of herself and their minor children committed to her care, and suit money, including counsel fees, to enable her to conduct her case, whether she be plaintiff or defendant, and to enforce obedience to any order in regard thereto by attachment and imprisonment for disobedience. The court may also enjoin any disposition of the husband's property to avoid the collection of said allowances, and may, in case of the husband's failure or refusal to pay such alimony and suit money, sequestrate his property and apply the income thereof to such objects. The court may also determine whether the husband or wife shall have the care and custody of infant children pending the proceedings.

pen

Permanent ali

SEC. 976. PERMANENT ALIMONY.-When a divorce is granted to the wife, the court shall have authority to decree her permanent alimony mony. sufficient for her support and that of any minor children whom the court may assign to her care, and to secure and enforce the payment of said alimony in the manner before mentioned, and may, if it shall seem fit, retain to the wife her right of dower in the husband's estate. SEC. 977. If the divorce is granted on the application of the husband, the court may, nevertheless, require him to pay alimony to the tion made by huswife, if it shall seem just and proper; but in such case the husband may appeal.

Where applica

band.

Case open for

SEC. 978. After a decree of divorce in any case granting alimony and providing for the care and custody of children, the case shall still future orders as to be considered open for any future orders in those repects.

SEC. 979. MAIDEN NAME OF WIFE RESTORED.-In granting a divorce from the bond of marriage the court may restore to the wife her maiden or other previous name.

alimony.

Maiden name of wife restored.

Maintenance of

SEC. 980. MAINTENANCE OF WIFE. Whenever any husband shall fail or refuse to maintain his wife and minor children, if any, although wife. able so to do, the court, on application of the wife, may decree that he shall pay her, periodically, such sums as would be allowed to her as permanent alimony in case of divorce for the maintenance of herself and the minor children committed to her care by the court, and the payment thereof may be enforced in the same manner as directed in regard to such permanent alimony.

Suit to declare a

SEC. 981. SUIT TO DECLARE A MARRIAGE VALID.-When the validity of any alleged marriage shall be denied by either of the parties thereto marriage valid. the other party may institute a suit for affirming the marriage, and upon due proof of the validity thereof it shall be decreed to be valid, and such decree shall be conclusive upon all parties concerned.

SEC. 982. COURT TO ASSIGN ATTORNEY IN UNCONTESTED CASES.-In all uncontested divorce cases, and in any other divorce case where the court may deem it necessary or proper, a disinterested attorney shall be assigned by the court to enter his appearance for the defendant and

Court to assign attorney in uncontested cases.