penny ftamp; and by the ftatute of the 23 Geo. III. c. 28. there is an additional duty of one fhilling added thereto; so that now the inventory must be written or ingroffed en paper or parchment, ftamped with a two fhilling ftamp.→ It may be made in the following form, with variations, according to the condition of the goods to be inventoried. A true and perfect inventory of all the goods, chattels, wares, and merchandizes, as well moveable as not moveable, of A. B. Late of C. in the county of in the diocefe of , yeoman, deceased, made by us whofe names day of are hereunto fubfcribed, the of our Lord His purfe and apparel, Horfes and furniture, Horned cattle, Sheep, Swine, in the year Poultry, Plate, and other houfehold goods, One leafe of, &c. Rent in arrear, Corn growing at the time of his death, Hay and corn, Ploughs, and other implements of husbandry, Debts, Total, 294 6 4 Other debts fuppofed to be defperate, 25 2 6 Debts owing by the deceased, 2501. Apprailed by us the day and year above written, D. E. F. G. SECTION THE FOURT H. OF GETTING IN THE EFFECTS, AND WHAT SHALL BE ASSETS IN THE ADMINISTRATOR's HANDS TO MAKE HIM CHARGEABLE. OR collecting the goods and chattels of the deceased, FOR the executor or adminiftrator has very large powers and interefts conferred on him by the law, being the reprefentative of the deceased. And an executor or adminiftrator may, after the death of the deceased, enter into the house where the deceafed lived, and where he died, and where the goods are, and take them away, and juftify it; but he must do it within convenient and reasonable time, as within thirty days after his death, or thereabouts, and in a quiet and fair manner when the door is open ".-In the former part of this chapter we have feen, that adminiftrators are put upon the fame footing, with regard to fuits, as executors appointed by will, and that they fhall have actions to demand and recover, as executors, the debts due to the inteftate. An admi. niftrator may have an action upon a judgment, statute, recognizance, obligation, or other fpecialty made to his inteftate; or upon any covenant or contract; and he shall have an action of trefpafs or trover for the goods of the inteftate taken in his life; and an action for a trespass with cattle in his close. And towards the beginning of this chapter we have feen, that for the most part the same actions the deceased might have had, the administrator shall have alfo; and that in actions arifing by breach of promife and the like, where the right defcends to the representatives of the plaintiff, and thofe of the defendant have affets to answer the demand, though the suits shall abate by the death of the parties, yet they may be revived againft, or by the executors or administrators. Likewife we have seen, that administrators are empowered to diftrain for rent in i Com. Dig. Administration (B. 13). arrear. h Shep. Touch. 453. arrear.Where any judgment after verdict fhall be had, by or in the name of any executor or adminiftrator ; in fuch cafe an adminiftrator of goods not adminiftered, may fue forth a writ of feire facias, and take execution upon fuch judgment *. In all actions brought by executors or adminiftrators, upon contracts, bonds, or other things made to the deceafed, or for goods taken away in his life, they fhall pay no cofts by any ftatute'. Executors and adminiftrators, when fuing in the right of the deceafed, fhall pay no cofts: for the ftatute 23 Hen. VIII. e. 15. doth not give colts to defendants, unless where the action fuppofes the contract to be made with, or the wrong to be done to, the plaintiff himfelf". And when an executor must declare as executor, he fhall pay no cofts: but if the cause of action arifes in the time of the executor, and is therefore a matter within his knowledge, and for which he may declare in his own right, and need not declare as executor, he fhall be liable to pay coits ".-On a queftion, whether an executor fhould be permitted to difcontinue, without payment of cofts. For the plaintiff executor, it was urged, that an executor fhould not pay costs in any inftance excepting one, viz. where he had brought an action as executor, which he might have brought in his own name: but the court were of opinion, that the giving an executor leave to difcontinue, was matter of discretion in the court; and they ought not to give him fuch leave, in any cafe where he hath knowingly brought his action wrong, unJefs he will confent to pay cofts. On a judgment of non profequitur, for the executor's wilful delay he fhall pay costs * Stat. 17 Car. II c. 8. I New Abr. tit. Cofts. m Black. Com 3 V. 400. n Str. 682. e Bur. Mansf. 1451. ℗ Non profequitur, or, as it is ufually termed, non pros, is where any perfon commences an action and does not declare, either the term the writ is returnable, or before the end of the enfuing term; the defendant against whom the ation is brought, having appeared, 9 Bur. Mansf. 1584. Black. Com. ASSETS ASSETS are real, or perfonal; where a man has lands in fee-fimple, and dies feifed thereof, the lands which come to his heir are affets real; and where he dies poffeffed of any perfonal eftate, the goods which come to the executors or adminiftrators are aflets perfonal. Affets are alfo divided into affets by defcent and affets in hand. Affets by defcent are where a perfon is bound in an obligation, and dies feised of lands which defcend to the heir, and which lands fhall be affets, and the heir shall be charged as far as the land to him defcended will extend '. Affets in hand are where one dies indebted, and appoints executors, or dies inteftate, and the executor or adminiftrator hath fufficient in goods or chattels, or other profits, to pay the debts, or fome part thereof; this fhall be faid to be affets in his hands, and for fo much he fhall be charged. There is also another divifion of aflets, into legal and equitable affets: legal affets are fuch as are liable by the course of law; equitable affets are fuch as are only liable by the help of a court of equity. As to real aflets and affets by descent, which more immediately concern the heir, more will be faid hereafter ". We fhall therefore proceed to confider what are affets in the adminiftrator's hands to make him chargeable. ALL thofe goods and chattels, actions and commodities, which belonged to the deceafed in right of action or poffeffion, as his own, and fo continued to the time of his death, and which after his death the executor or adminiftrator gets into his hands, as duly appertaining to him in right of his executorship and administration; and all fuch things as come to the executor or adminiftrator in lieu, or by reason of that, and nothing else, fhall be faid to be affets in the hands of the executor or adminiftrator, to make him chargeable to a creditor or legatee". ASSETS in the hands of one of the executors fhall be faid to be affets in the hands of all the executors; and affets in any part of the world fhall be faid to be affets in every part of the Terms of the Law. See pag. 59. " Pag. 93, 94. world: world and therefore if that point be in iffue, and it appear that there are affets in the hands of any one of the executors, or in any county or place whatfoever, the jury must find that there are affets *. And though a plantation be an inheritance, yet, being in a foreign country, it is a chattel to pay debts, and a thing that is teftamentary'. All goods and chattels, of what nature or kind foever, that are valuable, as oxen, kine, corn, &c. fhall be efteemed affets. But fuch things as are not valuable, as a presentation to a church, and the like, fhall not be accounted aflets 2. ALL the goods and chattels that come to the executor or administrator, in the right of their executorship or administration, and are by law given to them by virtue thereof, in the right of the deceased (as herein before particularifed), and which are in poffeffion, fhall be esteemed affets in his hands; and goods pledged to the deceased, and not redeemed, or the money wherewith they are redeemed, fhall be faid to be affets in the hands of the executor or adminiftrator. And all the goods and chattels in action or poffibility at the time of the death of the deceased, that are afterwards recovered, and of which the executor or adminiftrator hath obtained poffeffion; when they are fo recovered, are efteemed affets in his hands. But they are never accounted affets, until they are recovered and in poffeffion; therefore if there be debts owing to the deceafed upon ftatutes or obligations, or otherwife, these are never esteemed affets in the hands of the executor or adminiftrator, until they are recovered. So likewife, though there be debt or damage, recovered by a judgment had by the deceased, until execution be made this fhall not be esteemed affets in the hands of the executor or adminiftrator. So if the executor bring an action of trefpafs against another de bonis afportatis in vita teftatoris, for goods carried away in the life of the teftator, and he have a judgment Shep. Touch. 472. ý 2 Vent. 358. z Shep, Touch. 472. a Pag. 28-37. for |