LAW POINTS. 693 



The following requisites are necessary to enable a person to legally convey 

 property to another : First, he or she must be of sane mind ; second, of age ; 

 and third, he or she must be the rightful owner of the property. The grantor 

 is the person who makes the deed, and the grantee the person who receives 

 the deed. The wife of the grantor, in the absence of any statute regulating 

 the same, must acknowledge the deed, or else, after the death of her husband, 

 she will be entitled to one-third interest in the property, as dower during her 

 life. Her acknowledgment of the deed must be of her own free will and 

 accord, and the officer before whom the acknowledgment is taken must sign 

 his name as a witness to the fact that her consent was without compulsion. 

 Special care should be taken to have the deed properly acknowledged and 

 witnessed, and the proper seal attached. The deed takes effect upon its de- 

 livery to the properly authorized person. Any alterations or interlineations 

 in the deed should be noted at the bottom of the instrument, and properly 

 witnessed. After the acknowledgment of a deed, the parties have no right 

 to make the slightest alteration. An alteration after the acknowledgment, in 

 favor of 'the grantee, vitiates the deed. By a general warrantee deed, the 

 grantor agrees to warrant and defend the property conveyed, against all per- 

 sons whatsoever. A quitclaim deed releases what interest the grantor may 

 have in the land, but does not warrant and defend against others. Deeds, 

 upon their delivery, should be recorded in the Recorder's office without delay. 



Chattel Mortgages. A mortgage on personal property, given by a debtor 

 to a creditor, as security for the payment of a sum that may be due, is a chat- 

 tel mortgage. The property mortgaged may remain in the possession of 

 either party while the mortgage is in force. In order to hold the property 

 secure against other creditors, the mortgagee, or person holding the mortgage, 

 must have a true copy filed in the Clerk's or Recorder's office of the place 

 where the mortgagor, or person giving the mortgage, resides, and where the 

 property is when mortgaged. A justice of the peace, according to the laws 

 of some States, in the voting precinct where such property mortgaged is 

 located, must acknowledge and sign the mortgage, taking a transcript of the 

 same upon his docket, while the mortgage itself should be recorded, the same 

 as real estate transfers. When the person giving the mortgage retains pos- 

 session of the property, he may empower the party holding the mortgage with 

 authority to take the goods and chattels mortgaged into his possession at any 

 time he may deem the same insufficient security for his claims ; or if he shall 

 be convinced that an effort is being made to remove such property, whereby 

 he would be defrauded of his claim ; or for other reasons, when he may deem 

 it necessary to secure his claim, he can proceed to take possession of it; and 

 said property, after legal notice of sale has been given, according to the law 

 of the State governing the same, he is allowed to sell at public sale, to the 

 highest bidder. Out of the money obtained therefrom he can retain sufficient 

 to liquidate his demand and defray the necessary expenses, turning over any 

 moneys remaining to the mortgagor. 



Landlord and Tenant. No particular form of wording a lease is neces- 

 sary. It is important, however, that the lease state, in a plain, straightfor- 



