National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-10-18
MOOT COURT,
A Novel suppossd-to-be Case-Procesding Of
the senior class Of the National Law school.

A Novel suppossd-to-be case-Procesding Of
the Senior Glass Of the National Law school.
A very interesting debate took placs Friday
evening instbe law school Of the National I'd
versity, involving new question of law .aot yet
decided by our courts II was the que,stion InYol-
wing the right Of three widows to !. dover in the
same estate, and the effect Of che termination Of
the estate Of the widow Of che tenant hrstsei1ed.
A. owns farm OF one hundred and twenty-five
acres which he conveys by deed to b, and B con-
yeys the same to o, and Q conveys the same to D.
Nenher Of the wives Of A, b or y Join In the
deco. A, B and O die, leaving widows entitled
leugs to DIT Second. What share belongs TO each
Of the widows of A, and @? Third. What Is
TIE share Of the survivors at the death Of the
These questions are discussed with marked
ability BY nearly sixty members Of the senior
evening, and the opinion of Professor WedgWood,
the presiding professor given to the class.
By the Court. Dover at common law Is the
of all the lands and tenements OF which her nus
band was seized in fee simple, either in deed or
TO create title to dover S three things are
necessary: First, marriage; second, seiLen OF the
husband; third, death of the husband. Marrlsge
This right is contaminated by the death Of the
husband. The initiate estate OF the VIE Is con-
ditional estate depending entirely upon 1ne S0n
vive her husband her estate is never consum-
mated.
In the case before us there is no difficulty In de-
teIminiDg that AS widow shall be endowed OF
one third of the whole estate OF which A was
seized. She may be said to have been seized OF
u conditional estate in dover when her right be-
came initiate, OF which her husband had no power
to deprive her. b was never seized Of the initiate
dover Of AS widow, and BIS widow would De Gu
dowed of enc third Of the remainder, after sub
tracing the dover Of AS widow. was never
seized of the initiate bowers Of AS aad BIS
widows, and his widow would be entitled to one
third Of the remainder, after deducttng the
bowers Of AS and BIS widows. a, b, y and ID
each had possession Of the whole estate, subject
TO the prior initiate titles to dover.
When q third party RECEIVERS the lands ey
prior title 1t is clear that the wife loses her right
to dover therein, to the extent Of the estate re-
covered
Until the widows estate becomes consummate
and absolute, and ceases to be initiate and con-
tingent, the whole estate is regulated and con.
troled as If no such estate existed. If had died
before and b, C's widow would have been en-
dowed Of one third Of the whole estate. If b had
died next, BIS widow would have been entitled to
one third of the whole estate, and C's widows
dover would have been reduced to one third OF
two thirds Of the estate. If A had died next his
widow would be entitled to one third Of the
whole estate, and BIS widows dover would have
been reduced to one third of the remainder, and
Oswldow TO one third of the remainder, after de-
Quoting the bowers Of the widows of and IL.
When the dover Of AS widow terminates by her
death BIS widow is entitled to one third Of the
whole estate, and O's widow to one third Of the
is entitled to one third of the whole estate, and
ID to the remainder. When the dover Of O's
widow terminates ID is entitled to the whole
estate in fee simple, absolute.
The students eVinced the greatest interest In
the question throughout its consideration.