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Notes and Bills of Exchange

A bill of exchange is a written order for the unconditional payment of a certain sum of money; and a promisory note is a written promise to pay a specified sum of money unconditionally.

Notes are generally entitled to three days grace, which means that the note is not payable until the third day after the day mentioned for its payment. Notes payable on demand are not entitled to grace, nor is there grace in the following cases: Bills of exchange or drafts, payable at sight at any place within this State, shall be deemed due, and shall be payable on presentation, without grace. Checks, bills of exchange or drafts that appear on their face to have been drawn upon any bank or banking association, or banker, doing banking business under the act authorizing the business of banking, which are on their face payable on any specified day, or in any specified number of days after the date or sight thereof, are deemed due and payable on the day specified for payment of same, without the allowance of any days of grace; and it shall not be necessary to protest the same for non-acceptance.

Should the last of the days of grace fall on Sunday or any legal public holiday, the presentment for payment should be made on the Saturday preceding the Sunday, or the day preceding the Saturday, and drawers and endorsers should be notified not later than the following Monday, or the day after the holiday. A note or bill must, as a rule, be presented for payment on the last of the days of grace, and the drawers and endorsers must be notified not later than the following day.

When notes and bills are made payable to or at any person's order and endorsed in blank, pass by delivery.

The words "value received," though commonly used, are not essential, as value is always implied.

Notes do not bear interest, except when it is stated; but all notes bear legal interest after maturity. The holder of a note made payable to order can sue in his own name. A promisory note given by a minor is not valid.

The indorser of an accommodation is a surety for the maker, and is liable to any costs of collection that may be brought against such maker or endorser. A promise to pay, should the time of payment be not specified, is equivalent to a promise to pay on demand.

WILLS.

Any person of sound mind and proper age may dispose of their property, by last will and testament. In some States minors can bequeath personal property. The limitation for disposing of personal property by will is eighteen years for males, sixteen years for females, and, where it is a question of real property, the lawful age, twenty-one years.

A will must be made in writing, and it must be signed with the testator's full name, unless the person is unable to do so, owing to the extremity of his last illness, in which case his name may be signed in his presence and by his express instruction. A will requires not less than two attesting witnesses. The form of a will is not material, if it manifests in a sufficient clear manner the testators' intention. It may be expressed in any language the testator may choose. The testator may revoke his will at any time, by the following modes:

First-By a subsequent will. A second will nullifies a former one, provided it revokes it in express terms, or disposes of the property in a manner incompatible with the terms of the former will.

Second-By the destruction of the will.

Third-By marriage. Marriage, and the birth of a child after the execution of a will is held as presumptive revocation of the will, in case the wife and child are left unprovided for. The will of an unmarried woman is nullified by her marriage; but she may, before marriage, make a deed of settlement of her estate empowering her to make a will after her marriage. Children born after the execution of a will, and during the lifetime of the father, will inherit after his death in the same manner as if he had died without making a will.

Fourth-By alteration of estate. Any alteration of the estate or of the interest of the testator in the property bequeathed, implies a revocation of the will. The sale of the property devised, or a valid agreement to sell it, works as a revocation of the will. A codicil is a revocation of a will, so far as it is inconsistent with the instrument. A subsequent will revokes all former wills, though no express terms to that effect may be used.

Corporations may not receive bequests, unless such corporations are authorized by their charter to receive bequests.

A will should not be written by a legatee or devisee, and neither of them, or an executor or any person interested in the will should be called upon to witness the instrument.

Bequests cannot be received by aliens not authorized to receive such bequests. Before the bequests are distributed, it is necessary to settle all debts and incumbrances. A codicil, which is an addition or supplement to the original instrument, must be executed with the same formalities as the will itself. It makes no difference whether the witnesses are the same or different ones. In case there are several wills, the later work to revive and republish the former ones. The formalities required for the due execution of a will are regulated by the law existing at the date of the testator's death, unless otherwise provided for by law. In regard to wills touching real property situated within the State, the formalities of execution shall be such as are prescribed by our own law; but in cases where the real property is located in another State the formalities prescribed by the laws of that State must be followed.

A will of personal property executed in any other State or Territory of the Union, provided it be executed in accordance with the laws of that State may be proved here. The formalities must be fully completed with before the testator's death. Should he die in the act, and though after attaching his signature, but before the witnesses have signed, the will is not valid. Citizenship is not necessary for the validity of the will.

Though a man's intellect may not be so weak as to render him incapable of making a will, yet it may be in so feeble a state, as to make him an easy prey for undue influence by unscrupulous persons. It is necessary, however, that the undue influence, imposition, or fraud, be venal and not such as arises from gratitude, affection, or esteem; and its exercise upon the act itself must be proved.