SUCCESSION. Succession is the transmis sion of property either real or personal at the death of the owner, by rules laid down by law, in distinction to that by will made by the de ceased. The term °succession" is used in law to cover both the technical word °descent," which applies to real property, and °distribu tion," which applies to personal property.
When the owner of property dies, it is pre sumed that his property will follow in its suc cession the rules laid down by law, unless it is shown that a will is in existence. This fixes great responsibility upon the law to be just and fair to the survivors, and the statutes of the different States are very carefully worded to cover the rights of all. In all of the States the statutes of descent and distribution show conclusively how property will be disposed of by administers of estates. The statutes vary in some points, but in most provisions they fol low the old common jaw of England and the Roman civil law.
Family ties form the base on which are built up the laws of succession. Children of the deceased (known as the °intestate from the fact of not having made a will or testament regarding his property) have the first right in the property. In the United States, except where modified by statute, the heirs or persons who inherit through the laws of succession, take both the real and personal property, the only distinction being that the real property vests at once and the personal is distributed by administrators.
Children, male and female, share alike in the property of the ancestor, and if one or more of the children is deceased, the grandchildren will take that share that would have fallen to their parent, so long as one child of the an cestor lives. If there are no children living, and only grandchildren, all the grandchildren will share and share alike regardless of the ap portionment that would have taken place if their parents had lived. The former is known as per stirpee or by representation; the latter as °per capita" or by the number of persons.
Property will first descend in a direct line as long as there are descendants, such as to children, grandchildren and their descendants. These are known as lineal descendants.
It will then go to brothers and sisters of the full blood and to the half blood of the same father, and their descendants. Failing these de scendants, it will ascend to the parents and their descendants who are not in the direct line with the intestate, and are known as collateral de scendants. Property will descend to even re
mote kindred before it will ascend one genera tion.
Where there are no children the husband or wife inherits in some States the entire estate personal and real, but in other States the per sonal property only is inherited, and the realty descends to the blood of the intestate, a life interest known as dower only vesting in the widow.
The rights of the half blood are settled by statute. Half-blood brothers and sisters inherit from the common ancestor, but not of the parent by marriage.
Where lineal descendants fail, the succession is counted from the common ancestor with the intestate who last owned the property by right of "purchase rather than by descent. This rule is enforced in order that ancestral property shall not be diverted from its original source.
In the United States there is no preference in descent for male rather than female heirs, nor for first born.
If there are not found any lineal descendants, or any collateral descendants to take the prop erty, the succession fails and the property re verts or °escheats" to the State or county.
Adopted children are treated as not capable of inheriting property other than that of the adopting father and mother, and are not in cluded in succession from other members of the family, either ancestors or brothers or sisters.
A child born after the death of the father is included in the inheritance as if the birth was before the death of the father, if the child is born alive, and the share taken is the same as others of the children.
A bastard may not inherit except from his mother or illegitimate brothers or sisters. Being illegitimate, the law does not recognize rights due him. If legitimized by special act of legis lature or subsequent marriage, he takes then in the same share as any legitimate child.
Personal property is distributed according to the laws of the place where the intestate has his domicile. The realty descends according to the laws of the State in which the property is situated. Modern European civil codes differ widely in their provisions regarding inheritance and succession. In general the principles of Roman law obtain. See DESCENT IN LAW ; HEIR; INHERITANCE.