Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 79.djvu/735

 79 STAT. ]

PUBLIC LAW 89-183-SEPT. 14, 1965

force, or who has been absent or unheard of for seven years, may grant and convey by a separate deed, whether it is absolute or by way of lease or mortgage, as fully as if he were unmarried, any real property acquired by him since the adjudication or since the beginning of the absence. § 19-105. Jointure before marriage as bar to dower (a) Where real estate is conveyed to persons who intend to marry, or to one of them alone, or to a person and his heirs and assigns, to the use of persons who intend to marry, or to the use of one of them alone, for the purpose of creating for the latter person mentioned in either case a freehold estate for that person's life at least, and with his assent before the marriage, to take effect in possession and profits immediately upon the death of the other, the jointure bars his right or claim of dower in all the real estate of the spouse. The assent of the person for whose benefit the estate is created is evidenced by that person's becoming a party to the conveyance by which it is settled, or, if he is a minor, by his joining with the father or guardian thereof in the conveyance. (b) The jointure referred to in subsection (a) of this section is not a oar to dower unless it is expressly made and declared to be in satisfaction of the whole dower, and not of any particular part of it. § 19-106. Jointure after marriage; election If, after persons intermarry, real estate is given or assured for jointure of one of them, in lieu of dower, the person for whose benefit the settlement is made, if he survives the other spouse, shall elect to take the jointure or to claim the dower to which he is entitled under section 19-102. § 19-107. E£fect of acts of one spouse A judgment or decree confessed or recovered against one spouse, and any laches, default, covin, forfeiture, or deed or conveyance of one spouse without the assent of the other, evidenced by his acknowledgment thereof in the manner required by law to pass the contingent right of dower, does not prejudice the right of the other spouse to dower, nor preclude him from the recovery thereof. § 19-108. Recovery of dower withheld; damages When, in an action brought for the purpose, a surviving spouse recovers dower in lands from the estate of the deceased spouse, the surviving spouse may also, in the discretion of the court, recover in the same action damages for the withholding of the dower. §19-109. Recovery of dower obtained by default or collusion; damages If, during the infancy of an heir of a deceased spouse, or of any other person entitled to the lands of the deceased spouse, the surviving spouse, not having a right of dower, recovers dower by the default or collusion of the guardian of the infant, the infant is not prejudiced thereby, and when he comes of full age he has a right of action against the surviving spouse to recover the lands so wrongfully awarded for dower, with damages in the discretion of the court; but, if it is established in an action brought under this section that the surviving spouse is entitled to the dower, he shall have judgment so declaring, and may, in the discretion of the court, recover damages from the heir or other person.

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