Inheritance

In order to inherit, the child must be born alive, must be born during

the lifetime of the mother, and must be born capable of inheriting--that

is to say, monsters are incapable of inheriting. There is a mode of

inheritance called 'tenancy by courtesy.' When a man marries a woman

possessed of an estate or inheritance, and has, by her, issue born alive

in her lifetime capable of inheriting her estate, in this case he shall,

on the death of his wife, hold the lands for his life as tenant by the

courtesy of England. The meaning of the words 'born alive' in this

instance is not the same as in cases of infanticide. In Civil law any

motion of the child's body, however slight, or the fact of it having

been heard to cry by witnesses, is held to be sufficient proof of the

child having been born alive. It may die immediately afterwards, and it

is not necessary that the child be viable.