law does not require it. We have added them to the persons entitled to citation.

5. To clear up certain doubts which have been thrown upon it, we make very plain the right of the parties to a jury trial in the County Court, if they demand it, on the probate of a will, and otherwise make it very clear that the hearing is much more than the old common form of probate; providing also that the question whether it is a will is to be the first determined, after which the court determines such questions of law as actually exist and may be raised, the determination being final unless appeal is taken the same as in other cases, except as to parties not personally summoned or appearing, who may propound the will for probate or contest it in the County Court any time within the probate year, instead of by bill in equity in the District Court within two years, as now provided. This dispenses with the incongruity of permitting certain parties to contest the will within two years, and at the same time requiring by another section of the statute that the estate must be settled in one year.

6. The law now provides that witnesses to wills executed in Colorado may be required to appear, which we extend to wills of fered for probate in this State. Of course, if the witness is not in the jurisdiction the statute does not apply.

7. To clear up the question which has been raised as to the necessity of issuing letters in case of the probate of a will upon a record of probate from some other State, as the plain rule should be that creditors in this State should be permitted to collect their claims from real estate within the State, we substitute "shall" for "may," so that adjustment day, etc., shall be had as in other cases. And hereafter when foreign wills are probated, letters must be issued as in other cases.

8. A great deal of trouble has been caused by the death of testators in this State who were merely sojourning here temporarily for health, and whose property almost all lies in some other State. The custodian is required to file the will, and the County Court must issue citations and probate the same, after which it

must, of course, be also probated in another State. We now provide that if it appears that the estate of the deceased lies in another State, a certified copy may be made and retained and the original mailed to the proper jurisdiction.

9. When the County Judge is a witness to a will we provide for certifying the probate to another county or calling in another judge to hear it, instead of certifying it to the District Court, where they have no probate records, blanks, or other facilities for original probate matters.

10. When a County Judge is interested in an estate, we provide that he shall certify it to adjoining county, instead of to the District Court, as now provided.

11. The intention of the present law is that a special administrator to collect shall be appointed instantly, if necessary to protect the property during delays in the appointment in a regular way. Cases are numerous in which money on hand and stocks of goods are exposed to dangers, and horses and cattle needing attention, etc., while awaiting the appearance of heirs or the time when creditors may act. We provide explicitly that when there is any delay from any cause the Court may, without notice, appoint some one as special administrator.

12.

The reasons for revocation of various kinds of letters are made more uniform and broader.

13. To clear up another question recently raised, in the section on rights of executors before probate of the will, we insert the words "unless and until a special administrator is appointed." In law there is no will, and consequently no executor, until the will is proven, therefore the supposed executor, whose rights are not yet established and who has given no bond, should have no right to prevent the court from caring for the property through its bonded officers until the end of the probate.

14.

bersome.

The method of leasing estate property now is very cumWe attempt to make it simpler and less expensive by merely placing a limit upon the time for which it should run, and requiring it to be approved by the court.

15. Loans are not allowed on some of the very best securities in guardianship matters. We add to the securities which may be approved loans secured by real estate.

16. Foreign executors, etc., are given the right to sue in this State by filing copies of their letters and bonds and notifying the resident executor of their intention, if there be one, so that he may act if he so desire.

17. Guardian or conservator may be allowed to manage and farm the real estate of his ward, instead of leasing it.

18. Important changes are made in the manner and purposes for which estate property may be sold. Often it is manifestly for the interest of the estate to retain certain personalty and sell realty, or to sell one property in order to redeem another, as is now allowed in case of guardianship. We provide for all this. The requirements of the petition are not changed except so far as necessary to make them apply to the new reasons for sale or mortgage. The citation is to be served personally upon all who may be served in the county, and also published and the return and hearing days heretofore made at terms of court, and very cumbersome in many cases, are changed to definite certain times. A sale of real estate can be made and approved in thirty days, whereas formerly it required often from two to six months.

19.

The executor, etc., is made liable for fraudulent sales. 20. A limitation of five years is placed upon actions to set aside sales of realty, and it is provided that they shall not be avoided if the sale was made to one purchasing in good faith, conformity with the order of Court.

in

21. Important changes are made in the classification of claims. Trust funds held by the deceased as executor, adminis trator, guardian or conservator of another, are made first class under the general rule as modified in recent times, that such funds can be followed by the one entitled, if the amount can be identified. Funeral bills, physician's and other bills of last illness, and expenses of administration are the second class claims. Bills of the physician should stand as high as those of the nurse or undertaker,

advance anyway.

and under the general law the court expenses can be collected in Allowances to widow, wife or orphans compose the third class, and may be satisfied in that order out of the proceeds of sale of either real or personal property. All other debts constitute the fourth class as before.

22. The widow's allowance we provide shall go to the minor orphans, if there be no widow, and the wife's allowance in conservatorship cases likewise go to the children, if the wife be dead.

23. The present section in regard to procedure when one is found to have in his possession property belonging to the estate and refuses to give it up, is likely unconstitutional. We change it by making the proceeding virtually a bill of discovery, the property thus discovered to be recovered by a suit as in any other case, and prescribing penalties for refusal to give it up on demand.

24. In case of appeals we provide that after determination of appeals the appellate court shall certify the matter back, in order that the county court may know how to proceed, and in accordance with extraordinary powers given it for enforcing its or ders which are not given to appellate courts.

25. In the repealing clause we repeal all sections which we re-enact and all which we change, as well as those on nuncupative wills and one or two others, and the public administrator sections. Public administrators are abolished.

26. We provide that ditch stock may be reserved to be sold with the land.

27. We provide that in the sale of mining claims a lease and contract for sale may be entered into, as at present it is almost impossible to sell a mining property belonging to an estate.

28. We clear up the doubt as to probate terms by providing that they shall be the same as the law terms.

Some additional changes I might mention which were not included in the report. No provision was made in the chapter on descents and distributions as to who should inherit from children of foster parents, the law providing that the children themselves should inherit from their foster parents as though begotten in law

ful wedlock, it seemed only just that if such foster child die leaving no husband, wife or children, then the foster parent should inherit as though such child of the foster parent was born in wedlock, and the new law so provides. The only additional change in the law of descents and distribution was to provide that illegitimate children shall inherit from the mother the same as those born in lawful wedlock.

As to the rights of married women to make a will, they are placed exactly upon the same footing as the husband. The former law provided that any woman may, while married, make a will, but she shall not bequeath away from her husband more than half of her property both real and personal without his consent in writing, whereas any married man could make a will during the lifetime of his wife of all of his property without her consent in writing, but with the option to the wife, after the death of the husband, to accept the conditions of the will or half of the whole estate.

An important matter which has been settled by the new law, an echo of which is still among us from the Stratton estate, relates to the appointment of temporary administrators pending the contest of a will. We have provided specifically that during such a contest special administrators may be appointed as in other cases, who shall have and exercise all the powers, duties and liabilities had and exercised by other administrators, provided that in all such cases it shall be the duty of the Court to appoint as such administrator the executor or executors named in the will, unless it be made to appear to the Court that such appointment would be detrimental to the estate or prejudicial to the rights of the contestors. Two important questions are here settled: First, as to the rights of special administrators. Heretofore much controversy has arisen as to whether they could perform many of the duties imposed upon a general administrator. There were many such duties they could not perform under the old law often resulting in much embarrassment and difficulty in the administration of estates. Subject now to the approval of the Court, as in other cases, they have the powers of regular administrators in all proper cases. It also follows that