# United States Statutes at Large/Volume 5/27th Congress/3rd Session/Chapter 87

Chap. LXXXVII.—An Act to provide, in certain cases, for the sale of the real estate of infants within the District of Columbia.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,When a guardian thinks it to the ward’s interest to sell, he may exhibit a bill for that purpose. What to set forth. That when the guardian of any infant shall think that the interest of his or her ward will be promoted by the sale of his or her real estate, or any part thereof, it shall be lawful for such guardian to exhibit his bill for that purpose, in the circuit court of the District of Columbia, for that county in which the real estate proposed to be sold, or part thereof, shall lie. In the bill so exhibited, the guardian shall set forth, plainly and distinctly, all the estate, real and personal, to which such infant is entitled, and all the facts which, in his opinion, are calculated to show whether the interest of his ward will be promoted by such sale or not. The bill shall be ​Bill, how verified. Partied defendant thereto. Guardian ad litem to be appointed. Bill, how answered. Commissions for taking depositions to be awarded, &c.verified by the oath of the guardian; and the infant, together with those who would be heirs to the estate if he or she were dead, shall be made parties defendant thereto. It shall be the duty of the court to appoint some fit and disinterested person to be guardian ad litem, for the infant, who shall answer such bill on oath; the infant, also, if above the age of fourteen years, shall answer the bill in person, on oath.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That whether the answer to the plaintiff’s bill admit the facts alleged or not, commissions for taking depositions shall be awarded; and before the court shall have authority, under this act, to decree any sale, every fact material to ascertain the propriety of the sale shall be proved by clear and credible evidence, given by disinterested witnesses; depositions to be taken in the presence of the guardian ad litem, or upon interrogatories agreed upon by him.
What required to render a decree of sale lawful.Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That if, upon hearing of the cause, it shall be proved, to the satisfaction of the court, by evidence taken as aforesaid, that the interest of the infant manifestly requires the sale of his real estate, or any part thereof, and the court shall be opinion that, by such sale, the rights of others will not be violated, it shall be lawful to decree such sale, in such manner and upon such terms of credit as the court think right, always retaining a lien upon such estate for the payment of the purchase money.
Proceeds of sale to be applied to the benefit of the infant.Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the proceeds of such sale shall be vested and applied for the benefit of the infant, either in the purchase of other real estate, or in such other manner as the court shall think best; but, in whatever hands the proceeds of the sale may be placed, the court shall require ample security that they shall be faithfully applied in such manner as the court may direct.
Deposition of proceeds in case of the infant dying.Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That if the infant, after such sale, shall die intestate, under the age of twenty-one years, the proceeds aforesaid, or so much thereof as may remain at his death, shall be considered as real estate, and shall pass accordingly to such person or persons as would have been entitled to the estate sold, if it had not been sold.
Costs of suit, how paid. Guardians not allowed to purchase. No sale to be decreed if prohibited by the testator.Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That if a sale be decreed, the costs of the suit shall be paid out of the estate of the infant, otherwise the costs shall be paid by the plaintiff: Provided, That in no case where a sale shall be decreed shall the guardian of the said infant or infants, or the guardian ad litem, be admitted a purchaser, either by himself or by another, or in any manner whatever become the owner of the said land, during the infancy of the heir or devisee: And provided, also, That no sale of any infant’s real estate shall be decreed, by virtue of this act, if the testator from whom such estate is derived, shall, by his last will and testament, have expressly directed otherwise.
Act to take effect from its passage.Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That this act shall be in force from and after the passage thereof.
Approved, March 3, 1843.