BOND DEPARTMENT Detroit Trust Company Securities for sale yielding All bonds offered have been purchased by us and approved by our Executive Committee. We specialize in bonds suitable PENOBSCOT BUILDING DETROIT HIS pamphlet upon the Michigan laws of descent and distribution of property of deceased persons covers only cases in which the deceased did not make a will. The Detroit Trust Company is organized for the express purpose of acting as Administrator in such cases. It will also serve as Executor and Trustee under Wills in those cases where the deceased made a Will. It very often happens that the laws, shown in the compilation in this pamphlet, do not provide for a division of his property_to meet his views. In such cases, a Will is necessary. For instance, he may wish his property, or a part of it, to be held and managed by some one for the benefit of his wife, and for such children as may be under age. In such a case, a Trustee under his Will is necessary, and for that service the Detroit Trust Company is especially qualified by reason of its equipment and experience. Attention is called to the brief statement in this pamphlet relating to the Inheritance Tax Law. The Detroit Trust Company also acts as Guardian, Receiver, Business Agent for Women and others, Trustee under Mortgage securing bonds. It also: Receives Wills for safekeeping without charge. Pays interest on deposits. Sells bonds. Makes Audits for individuals, partnerships, corporations, counties, cities, villages, etc. It will give us pleasure to answer inquiries upon the subject matter of this pamphlet, concerning the charges of the Company, its methods of doing business, its relations with attorneys, rates of interest paid by it, the securities which it has for sale, or respecting any branch of its business. The statements of the laws of descent in this compilation are not in all cases in the precise language of the statutes. Our purpose has been to express the meaning and effect of the statutes as clearly as we could, and to avoid as much as possible the legal phraseology and terms which are customarily used in drafting laws. DETROIT TRUST COMPANY. Preliminary Explanations Intestate A person who dies leaving no will is called an intestate and his estate is called an intestate estate. Difference between Descent of Distribution of Personal Estate The real estate of an intestate often passes in a different way and to different persons from the personal estate, and it is therefore important to know in a general way what is real estate and what is personal estate. Real Estate The real estate of an intestate is the land and the things so attached thereto as to be considered part of the land itself, such as buildings, trees, etc., which the intestate owned at the time of his death. The intestate may have owned the land either solely or jointly as tenant in common with other persons, and in either event his interest in the land is real estate belonging to his estate. But if the intestate owned the land jointly with his surviving wife by means of a conveyance running to them jointly, then the land is not real estate belonging to his estate and his widow as survivor owns it absolutely. Likewise if he survive his wife he owns it absolutely and the estate of his wife has no interest in the land. Duration of Ownership In order to make the interest of the intestate in the land real estate and not mere personal estate his interest must be for more than a mere term of years and must be at least a life estate, that is, to last during the life of some other person who survives him. Mortgages A mortgage on real estate, which mortgage was owned by the intestate, is not part of the real estate of the intestate's estate but is part of his personal estate. Land Contracts If the intestate is in possession of land under a contract in writing to buy it, his interest in the land is real estate. If the intestate in his lifetime sold land on land contract and the purchaser is in possession and has not yet received a deed, the interest of the intestate in the land is not real estate but is personal estate; except that the unpaid portion of the purchase price is treated as real estate so far as the widow's dower is concerned. Personal Estate All of the property of the intestate which is not part of the real estate of his estate is part of his personal estate. Debts and Expenses Expenses of administration and all debts of the intestate are payable out of the personal estate, if sufficient, and then out of the real estate, and in the following order: FIRST: Expenses of administration. SECOND: Funeral expenses. THIRD: Expenses of last sickness. FOURTH: Debts having preference by laws of the United States. FIFTH: All other debts. Such expenses and debts are charges against the estate, and it is only the residue of the estate, after they payment, which is subject to descent and distribution, as hereafter set forth. |