DEBT, that which one person owes to another, or the duty which, as responsible beings, all owe towards God. Life is figuratively spoken of as a loan, and the act of dying is called " paying the debt of nature." More commonly, however, the term D. is limited to• money legally due, and exigible by process of law. To speak in legal phraseology, D. may originate either in agreement or by operation of law, or as a consequence of injury, though in the latter case it more commonly the form of a claim for damages (q.v.). Liquidated D. (in Scotland, liquid), is where the exact amount has been ascer tained; contingent D., is where the liability depends on the occurrence of an event which, may or may not happen; future D., is where the liability is existing, but the time for payment has not yet arrived. This may, in Scotland, be secured by certain legal proc esses, entitled arrestment and adjudication (q.v.); but in England there is, in general, no method of affixing a liability upon property before the D. becomes payable, except in the case of bankruptcy, when a future or contingent D. may be proved against the estate, as in Scotland. The main division of debts in Scotland, however, is into mova ble and heritable—the former being in themselves chargeable only upon the debtor's personal funds, although they may, by certain forms of law, be made also a charge upon his real estate; and the latter being directly and immediately a charge upon his real estate. The former are, acconlihgly, esteemed as personal estate so far as regards suc cession, while the latter are considered as heritable or real property. In England, also a D. may be secured on the debtor's real estate, as by mortgage; but the distinction is less material as regards succession, for even mortgages are accounted personal estate in the hands of the creditor. In Scotland, on the other hand, there is no distinction corresponding to the fundamental division of debts in England into simple contract debts and specialty debts. The former are all debts which arise without the interven
tion of a deed (q.v.), or before judgment; and it is only of late years that they have been made recoverable against the heir of the debtor. Such a D. does not by law carry inter eat. A specialty D. is one constituted by deed (q.v.), or by a record of court, as a recog nizance, or by a judgment of a court. The former carries interest from its date, and a judgment D. carries interest from the date of the judgment at 4 per cent. It binds all lands of which the defendant is possessed, either in law or equity; but to make this effectual against purchasers, the judgment must have been registered in the common pleas, and the registration must be renewed every five years.
DEBT (ante), as in England so in the United States, a debt is "something owed;" in contracts, a sum of money due by certain and express agreement; in general, all that is due a man in any form of obligation or promise, or any claim for money. An active debt is one due a person. A doubtful debt is one the payment of which is uncertain. A hypothecate debt is one which constitutes a lien upon an estate: njudgment debt is one which is evidenced by matter of record; a liquid debt is one which is immediately and unconditionally due; a passive debt is any one which a person owes; a privileged debt is one which is to be paid before others in case a debtor is insolvent; the privilege may result from the character of the creditor, as where the debt is due the United States, or from the nature of the debt, as when it is for funeral expenses. A debt may be evidenced by writing under seal, or by a simple contract. The distinguishing and necessary feature is that a fixed and specific quantity or. suns is owing, and no future valuation is required to settle it.