“ In Scotland a disposition and settlement is a mode of providing for the devolution of property after death, and so corresponds rather to the English will than to the English settlement. The English marriage settlement is represented in Scotland by the contract of marriage, which may be ante- or post-nuptial.
In the United States settlements other than marriage settlements are practically unknown. Marriage settlements are not in common use, owing to the fact that most states long ago adopted the principles of the English Married Women’s Property Acts. ”

“ The vulgaris, pupillaris or exemplaris substitutio (consisting in the appointment of successive heirs in case of the death, incapacity or refusal of the heir first nominated) may have suggested the modern mode of giving enjoyment of property in succession. ”

“ The first result is generally obtained by a strict settlement, the latter by a marriage settlement, which is for valuable consideration if ante-nuptial, voluntary if post nuptial. But these two kinds of settlement are not mutually exclusive: a marriage settlement may often take the form of a strict settlement and be in substance a resettlement of the family estate. ”