GOODS IN COMMUNION, the name given in the law of Scotland, France, and some other countries, to the personal property of a married couple, which is not subject to any deed, but left to the operation of the common law. In England, such a phrase is unknown, for upon marriage, all the personal property which previously belonged to the woman (which is not secured by any deed or will), as well as what was previously his own, becomes and continues the husband's absolutely—he is entire master of it, and can do what he likes with it, regardless of the wishes of his wife or children, and he may even bequeath it away to strangers. In Scotland, the theory 'is not so liberal towards the husband, though in practice there is not much difference. By the law of Scotland, the husband can also do what he likes with the personal property of both parties, if there is no previous marriage-contract or other deed governing the subject matter. He can almost squander it at will. It is only at his death that the theory of a kind of partnership, or of a communion of goods, comes into play.
Until 1855, when the law was altered, this theory prevailed when the wife died, for formerly, at her death, the goods were divided into two parts, if there were no children, and one-half went to the next of kin of the wife, however distant the relationship, and not to the husband. But now, by statute 18 Viet. c. 23, s. 6, when a wife dies before the husband, her next of kin takes no interest whatever in the goods in communion; and the law in this respect is now the same as it is in Fugland. Hence the phrase goods fn cotuniuulonqs'leS. appropriate than it'''‘vtia before 18'55. hoWever, the husband die, the goods in communion suffer a division on the principle of a partnership. Thus, If there are no children, half goes to the widow, and the other half to the next kin of the husband. If there are children, then one-third goes to the widow, and is often called her jus relietw (q.v.), and the other two-thirds to the children equally, if there is ko will; or if there is a will, then one-third to them, called the legitiin (q.v.). The
same division also takes place in England, when there IS no will but this is done in England by virtue of a statute 29 Charles II. c. 3, called the statute of distributions (q.v.), whereas this effect is produced in Scotland not by a statute, but by the couumm law. Practically, this distinction, though important to be known by lawyers, may seem immaterial to laymen.
Another more important distinction, however, both theoretically and practically, is this: The above division of the goods in communion prevails in Scotland whether the husband has left a will or not; in short, it prevails in spite of his will, and all that a husband having a wife and children can do by means of a will, is to bequeath one-third of his personal estate to strangers, and this third is usually called on that account. the dead's part (q.v.). Thus, iu &timid, on the death of the husband, the wife and chil dren have an indefeasible interest in two-thirds of his personal property, and this inchoate interest during life gave rise to the phrase "goods in In Eng land, on the contrary, the will, if there is one, may carry away all the personal property to strangers, regardless of the wife and children. Hence, the result may be stated shortly thus: in Scotland, a man cannot disinherit his wife and children; whereas in England he can. See other incidents of this distinction in Paterson's Compendium of English and Scotch Laws, ss. 673, 738. If there is a marriage-contract or antenuptial settlement between the husband and wife, the rights both of the-wife and children may he materi ally varied, for the rule then is, that the parties may make what arrangement they please by way of contract, and in such settlements a fixed sum is generally provided both to the wife and children. in lieu of what they would be entitled to at common law, i.e., where no express contract is made.