Legal settlement

“ The law in England, by which property can be kept in the same families for many years, has, perhaps, caused greater importance to be given in that country than in this to the insertion in deeds of settlement of a power of revocation and appointment to other uses. ”

“ Let it be here remarked, that the object of the deed is declared to be the settlement of the whole of the estate, real and personal, upon the married woman, with power to dispose of the whole of it, either by appointment or devise. It will not be denied that this investment of, and authority over, the whole estate, so explicitly declared, might not have been modified or even revoked by subsequent provisions of the same instrument ”

“ That case, however, did not require that the precise meaning of the term should be fixed, and the Court is disposed to think, that a settlement made on the land by another person, who cultivated it for the proprietor, would be sufficient; though the proprietor should not reside in person on the estate, or within the territory. Had the settlement proved by Williams, been made at the day required by the Cession Act, it would, we think, have satisfied the requisition of that Act, and entitled the plaintiffs in error to the benefit of the condition. ”

“ Buick, supra, 209, that by the seventh section of the act of 1853 the right of sele ting indemnity lands for those on which actual settlements were made must be determined by the actual survey of the grant, and, of course, could not be exercised before that time, and that up to that time a valid settlement could be made which would deprive the State of the land, though made on what turned out to be a sixteenth or a thirty-sixth section. ”

“ Oftentimes a party may be willing to yield something for the sake of a settlement; and if he does so with a full knowledge of the circumstances, he cannot affirm the settlement, and afterwards maintain a suit for that which he voluntarily surrendered. But the present case is one between vendor and vendee, and the rights of the parties must be measured by the terms of the agreement under which the sale and purchase were made. ”

“ Article 1988, Paschal's Digest, reads as follows: 'All bargains, sales, and other conveyances whatever, of any lands, tenements, and hereditaments, whether they may be made for passing any estate of freehold or inheritance, or for a term of years; and deeds of settlement upon marriage, whether land, slaves, money, or other personal thing, shall be settled or covenanted to be left or paid, at the death of the party or otherwise ”

“ Where the parties in a case reach a settlement, the public security organ, people's procuratorate or people's court shall hear the opinions of the parties and other relevant persons, examine whether the settlement is voluntary and legitimate, and organize the making of a written settlement agreement. ”

“ It transfers no property, passes no estate, declares no trustees, and contains no word of direct and immediate conveyance, and nothing to indicate that it was a complete and actual settlement. It relates, not merely to property in possession, but to that which might be acquired in future, and the greater part of that which is the subject of the plaintiff's bill was subsequently acquired either by purchase or descent, and could not be the subject of an executed contract. The title of the plaintiff, therefore, rests entirely in covenant.'
2. ”

“ The connection between the administration, settlement, distribution, and partition of an estate is such that the power to make partition may be justly regarded as ancillary to the power to distribute such estate, and therefore not alien to the probate system as it has long existed and now exists in many states. ”

“ We thought we had made a settlement with them at one time, which we did, and the executors of the estate took their releases which exonerated them from all blame, and they avowed themselves satisfied with the settlements made. But then, some men's word and some men's signatures do not amount to much. What next? Why, some of our very pure and high-minded lawyers are not above entering into such things because of a little monetary inducements. ”

“ Rep. 100. Such a settlement ought not to be overthrown, even if the court should now be of opinion that the party complaining of it surrendered rights that the law, if appealed to, would have sustained. ”

“ The record shows undoubtedly that his settlement commenced about eight months before he filed his declaration, and it must be conceded that the land was of that class which had not been proclaimed for sale, and his case must be governed by the provision of that section. It declares that where the party fails to make the declaration within the three months his claim is to be forfeited and the tract awarded to the next settler in order of time on the same tract, who shall have given such notice and otherwise complied with the conditions of the law. ”

“ SETTLEMENTS.—Any entity of the Federal Government which is authorized under any law, rule, or regulation to enter into a settlement agreement or consent decree with any person, other than a natural person who is not a corporate officer or person with equivalent authority in any other organization, in satisfaction of any allegation of an action or omission by the person which would be subject to a civil penalty or administrative penalty shall assess on such person an amount equal to 4.75 percent of the amount of the settlement. ”

“ If, within a specified time after the surveys, and the return of the township plat, the settler takes certain steps,-that is, files a declaratory statement, such as is required when the surveys have preceded settlement, and performs certain other acts prescribed by law,-he acquires for the first time a right of pre-emption to the land; that is, a right to purchase it in preference to others. Until then he has no estate in the land which he can devise by will, or which, in case of his death, will pass to his heirs at law. ”

“ In a large number of the states, as the citations by counsel of statutes and decisions show, probate courts were, and are, invested with power to make partition, among heirs or devisees, of estates coming within their cognizance for settlement and distribution. ”

“ That any settler who has settled, or who shall hereafter settle, on any of the public lands of the United States, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, with the intention of claiming the same under the homestead laws, shall be allowed the same time to file his homestead application and perfect his original entry in the United States Land Office as is now allowed to settlers under the pre-emption laws to put their claims on record, and his right shall relate back to the date of settlement, the same as if he settled under the pre-emption laws.' 21 Stat. ”

“ As, therefore, the regular representative of the estate has an opportunity to contest the final settlement of the special administrator, before giving him an acquittance, it cannot be said that the absence of notice to the distributees of such settlement amounts to a deprivation of their rights of property without due process of law. ”

“ If they were acting as owners of the fee, then that circumstance afforded, pro tanto, presumption against the delivery of the settlement deed; since parties acting under and entitled to act solely under the power in that deed, would naturally refer to it as the foundation of their conveyances. Now, so far as the presumption would go, it was fairly and fully left to the jury as evidence, by the very instruction given to the court. ”

“ The cause of action in that suit was not the settlement, nor the settled account, but the trover and conversion of certain certificates of stock. The settlement remains as it was, with all its incidents and securities. Had the cause of action been the debt due, it would not have altered the case. The settlement remained, and if a lien attended it, the lien also remained. A judgment without satisfaction is not an extinguishment of a collateral remedy for the same cause of action. ”

“ But when the account is stated between the parties, or when any thing shall have been done by them, which, by their implied admission, is equivalent to a settlement, it has then become an ascertained debt. ”

“ Every executor or administrator shall render his account of his administration within the time allowed him for the settlement of the estate, and at such other time as he is required by the court, until the estate is wholly settled. ”

“ The nature of the lien of a judgment as a general and not a specific lien, was well known in Pennsylvania, and the object of the clause was, to liken the lien of a settlement to that which was already known; the clause had no other object. 2d. A contract is supposed to be implied by the confession of judgment, that it shall be enforced only by execution. There is no warrant for any such implication; the contract of a judgment, or the obligation of the contract, is by the debtor to pay it; there is no contract or obligation in the creditor to obtain payment only in one way. ”

“ When a settlement is made on the basis of an administrative determination and such a settlement varies from the State review appraiser’s determination of value, the file must contain a statement setting forth the reason for the settlement.
In a few instances, a property owner refusing to settle by negotiation has taken a case into court and received a verdict less than the amount offered by the acquiring agency. ”

“ It is sufficient to say that, upon a careful examination of them, we are of opinion that it was the intention of the legislature to invest probate courts with authority, in connection with, and as ancillary or supplementary to, the settlement and distribution of estates, to make partition of real property,-where the title of the deceased owner and the heirship of the parties are undisputed,-so as to invest each heir with a separate title to the particular part or parts allotted to him by the decree of partition. ”

“ Such legislation, we suppose, has its origin in the belief that it is convenient, if not desirable, for all concerned in the estate of a decedent, that the same court which supervises the final settlement of the accounts of a personal representative, and ascertains and declares the interests of heirs in such estate as may remain after the demands of creditors are satisfied, should have the power to make partition. ”

“ No claim or demand shall be received after expiration of the time so limited, unless for good cause shown, the court may, in its discretion, receive, hear, and allow such claim upon notice to the executor or administrator, but no claim shall be received or allowed unless presented within one year and six months from the time when notice of the order is given, as provided in the next section, and before final settlement, and the allowance or disallowance of any claim shall have the same force and effect as a judgment for or against the estate. ”

“ To illustrate, reviewing the provisions in the order in which they stood before their confused compilation in the Recopilacion, ordinances 88 and 89 (law 6) and ordinance 100 (law 7) provided for contracts with an individual for founding a town, for the quantity of land to be contracted for, and prescribed regulations for the new settlement. Ordinance 101 (law 10) provided for individuals uniting for the purpose of a settlement. ”

“ The claim of the defendant to a right of pre-emption stands, therefore, in no better plight than if there had been no prior occupant of the lands. His own settlement can alone be considered, and that dates, as already said, from May, 1869. He had no claim to the lands when the plaintiff settled upon them, and he acquired none by his purchase of parties who had previously occupied them. ”

“ The occupation and settlement which, in the Louisiana and Florida cases, were considered to constitute the true grounds of the claimant's equity, were required by the Supreme Court to be shown, not because the technical rule required a formal delivery of possession to complete the transfer of the right of property, but, because the petitioner, by occupying and cultivating his land under an inchoate title, and an implied promise of a grant, had rendered to the former Government a consideration which bound its conscience and that of its successors to perfect the title. ”

“ The fine or recovery itself, like a power once gained in mechanics, may be applied and directed to give efficacy to an infinite variety of movements, in the vast and intricate machine of a voluminous family settlement. And, if these deeds are made previous to the fine or recovery, they are called deeds to lead the uses; if subsequent, deeds to declare them. As, if A tenant in tail, with remainder to himself in fee, would settle his estate on B for life, remainder to C in tail, remainder to D in fee ”

“ The settlement which the law of Congress will recognize-except where the claim is made by a widow or heirs of a deceased settler-must be personal to the settler, and not that of others who may have conveyed to him.
2. As to the time when the portion of the land in controversy, originally claimed to be within the boundaries of a Mexican grant, was, by the survey of the grant, and the appropriation of other lands to its satisfaction, excluded from them, and thus became open to settlement and pre-emption, only a few words are necessary. ”

“ In that case it was held that a court of equity would not grant a decree for specific performance of an agreement to sell the interest of the homesteader, made after settlement and before the oath is filed for final certificate. ”

“ What is the construction and effect of the marriage settlement, and what powers did it confer or restrain?
2d. Have its terms and power been duly executed, so as to make a valid appointment or execution thereof?
3d. Will equity aid the defective execution?
4th. Has the complainant by her own acts precluded herself from the relief prayed, in respect to the property withheld from her? 5th. Has she not a clear right to the shares of turnpike stock?
6th. Is she not entitled to be quieted in the unsold property, at least to have the deed as to that cancelled? ”