The Making of Wills 231 



death. It will be seen that the giver does not 

 divest himself of his property so that in case of 

 recovery it would not belong to him, the gift be- 

 coming effective only upon his death as expected. 

 Gifts of property made by a debtor to escape 

 the payment of debts are generally held void 

 and may be set aside by his creditors; such 

 gifts, however, bind the giver, and he cannot 

 compel a return of the property on the ground 

 that he had a fraudulent intent in disposing of 

 it. This whole matter, however, is so involved 

 that a further statement of its rules would be 

 of no assistance. 



n. WILLS 



A will may dispose of either real or personal 

 property, or both. In New York, and most other 

 states, only persons who are over twenty-one 

 years of age may will real property, while six- 

 teen and eighteen years are the common ages at 

 which one may will personal property. Gener- 

 ally an idiot, or a lunatic, or a person laboring 

 under mental disability, which prevents his un- 

 derstanding his act and circumstances, may not 

 make a valid will. In most states a person leav- 

 ing a husband or wife or near relatives, may 

 not give more than one-half of his estate to a 

 charity. 



A will is by far the most important legal 



