SEC. 9. If a wife willingly leave her husband and live in adultery, she shall be barred of her dower, unless, subsequent to such conduct, her husband shall become reconciled to her, and suffer her to dwell with him again.

SEC. 10. A married woman may bar her right of dower in any estate conveyed by her husband by joining with him in the deed conveying the same, and therein releasing her claim to dower, or by releasing the same by a subsequent deed executed jointly with her husband; such deed in either case being executed and acknowledged by her, and certified as herein before prescribed by chapter forty-eight. She may in like manner bar her dower by joining with the guardian or trustee of her husband in the execution of any conveyance made under an order of the circuit court, or with the officer or trustee selling and conveying the real estate of the husband by virtue of an execution, judgment, or deed of trust.

SEC. 11. Whenever an estate in lands shall be conveyed to a person and his intended wife, or to such intended wife alone, or shall be conveyed in trust for such person and his intended wife, or in trust for such wife alone, for the purpose of creating a jointure for her benefit, such jointure, if assented to by the intended wife, shall be a bar to any right or claim of dower of such wife in any lands of the husband.

SEC. 12. Such jointure must not be less than a freehold estate in lands, for the life of the wife at least, to take effect in possession or profit immediately on the death of the husband.

SEC. 13. The assent of the wife to such jointure shall be evidenced, if she be of full age, by her becoming a party to the conveyance by which it shall be settled; if she be an infant, by her joining with her father or guardian in such conveyance.

SEC. 14. Any pecuniary provision made for the benefit of an intended wife, and in lieu of dower, shall, if assented to as provided in the preceding section, bar her right of dower in all the lands of her husband.

SEC. 15. If any such jointure or pecuniary provision, in lieu of dower, be made before the marriage, and without the assent of the intended wife, or if it be made during marriage, it shall bar her dower, unless she shall, within six months after knowledge of her husband's death and of the existence of such jointure or provision, make her election to waive the same and receive her dower.

SEC. 16. A widow entitled to an election under the preceding section, shall be deemed to have elected to waive such jointure or provision, if within the period mentioned in said section she shall enter on the lands to be assigned to her for her dower, or commence proceedings for the recovery or assignment thereof.

SEC. 17. A devise of lands, or any estate therein, or bequest of personal property, to the wife of the testator, or to any other person in trust for her, shall, if intended to be in lieu of dower, bar her of all right to the same, unless within six months after the authentication or probate of the will, she shall transmit to the orphans' court a written renunciation to the following effect:

ceased, do hereby renounce all claim to any devise or bequest made to me by the will of my husband, exhibited and proved according to law, electing to take in lieu thereof my legal rights.

SEC. 19. Every such devise shall be construed to be intended in lieu of dower, unless it be otherwise expressed in the will, as also shall every bequest of personal property, except a specific bequest not exceeding in value the sum of five per cent. of the amount of the personal estate of the deceased, the same to be ascertained from the appraisement of the estate, as returned by the executor or administrator to the orphans' court, or by appraisers specially appointed by said court.

SEC. 20. If a woman be lawfully evicted of lands assigned to her as dower, or settled upon her as jointure, or is so deprived of the provision made for her by will, or otherwise, in lieu of dower, she may be endowed anew, in like manner as if such assignment, jointure, or other provision had not been made.

SEC 21. If a woman commit or suffer waste in the lands held in dower or jointure, she shall be liable to an action by the heir or devisee, or by his guardian; and if she marry a second husband, he shall be answerable for any waste committed by her before marriage, or by himself; but taking fuel necessary for her own use and proper materials for the necessary repair of the buildings and fences on land of which she may be endowed, shall not be considered waste.

SEC. 22. Every jointure, devise, or other provision in lieu of dower, shall be forfeited by the woman for whose benefit it shall have been made, in the same cases in which she would forfeit her dower, and

shall immediately vest in others, as if her estate or interest had determined by death.

SEC. 23. Crops growing on the dower or jointure land of a widow at the time of her death may be bequeathed by her, and if not bequeathed, shall go to her executor or administrator, in like manner as crops growing on any other lands held for life.

SEC. 24. A widow may remain in the dwelling house of her husband forty days after his death, and until her dower is assigned, ,without being chargeable to pay the heir or devisee rent for the same, and if deprived thereof, may, on complaint of unlawful entry or detainer, recover the possession with damages for the time she was so deprived.

SEC. 25. No widow shall be precluded from her dower or jointure by reason of the real estate whereof she claims the same having been recovered from her husband by a judgment if she would have been entitled to dower or jointure had there been no such judgment. Nor shall any heir, who was under the age of twenty-one years at the time dower was assigned to a widow, out of the lands of his ancestor, by his guardian, or by judgment by default or collusion against such guardian, be precluded from recovering the seizin of his ancestor from such widow, unless she show herself entitled to such dower.

SEC. 26. When a widow recovers dower of the heir or devisee of her husband, or the assigns of either, such recovery shall be of a third of the estate as it is at the time of the recovery, including improvements made by such heir, devisee, or assigns, and the increased value of the estate from other causes.

SEC. 27. When a widow recovers dower against one claiming under an alienation of the husband made in his lifetime, such recovery shall be of a third of the estate as it is at the time of the recovery, exclusive only of the permanent improvements made by the alienee.

SEC. 28. When, in an action brought for that purpose, a widow shall recover her dower, she shall be entitled also to recover damages for the withholding of such dower, or she may also maintain a separate action for the recovery of such damages.

SEC. 29. Such damages shall be one-third part of the annual value of the mean profits of the land, not estimating for the value of any permanent improvements made by the heir or devisee, or the assigns of either, after the death of the husband, nor for any such made by such alienee of the husband after the alienation.

SEC. 30. Against the heir or devisee of the husband, or the assigns of either, the damages shall be for such time, after the husband's death, as they have withheld the dower, not exceeding, in all, five years before the suit is commenced, and estimating the damages to the time of the recovery.

'SEC. 31. Against one claiming under an alienation by the husband in his lifetime, the damages shall be from the commencement of the suit against such claimant to the time of the recovery.

SEC. 32. If, after such suit brought for damages, the widow or tenant die before recovery be had, the same may be recovered by her executor or administrator, or against his.

SEC. 33. A widow shall, demand her dower within twenty years after the death of her husband; but if, at the time of his death, she be under the age of twenty-one years, or insane, or imprisoned on a criminal charge or conviction, the time during which such disability continues shall not form any part of the said term of twenty years. SEC. 34. Dower may be assigned or recovered subject to the provisions of this chapter, as at common law, or as hereinafter provided in Part III of this Code.

SEC. 35. When the estate out of which dower is to be assigned consists of a mill or other tenement which cannot be divided without damage to the whole, dower may be assigned of the rents, issues, or profits thereof, to be had and received by the widow, as tenant in common with the other owners of the estate; or the circuit court may order a sale of the premises, free from dower, and order the investment of one-third of the net proceeds thereof, at interest, for the benefit of the widow during the term of her life, the same to go upon her death to those entitled to the premises sold.

SEC. 36. When the circuit court shall, for any purpose, order the sale of the real estate of a deceased person, and his widow, entitled to dower therein, shall consent to a sale of the whole estate, disencumbered of her right of dower, and signify the same in writing, to be filed with the clerk of said court, she shall receive, in commutation thereof, if in good health, the following proportion of the net proceeds of said sale:

If she be under thirty years of age, one-sixth.

If above thirty and under thirty-six, two-thirteenths.
If above thirty-six and under forty, one-seventh.
If above forty and under forty-five, two-fifteenths.

If above forty-five and under fifty-one, one-eighth.
If above fifty-one and under fifty-six, one-ninth.

If above fifty-six and under sixty-one, one-tenth.

If above sixty-one and under sixty-seven, one-twelfth.

If above sixty-seven and under seventy-two, one-fourteenth.
If above seventy-two and under seventy-seven, one-eighteenth.
If above seventy-seven, one-twentieth.

Her age and health shall be established by evidence satisfactory to the court, and if the latter be not good, the court may make her such an allowance, within the above limits, as shall seem just and equitable. In either case such award shall be a sufficient bar to every right of dower which such widow may claim in the estate so sold.

SEC. 37. When any man and his wife shall be seized in her right of any estate of inheritance, legal or equitable, in lands, and shall have issue born alive which might inherit the same, the husband shall, on the death of his wife, hold the lands for his life as tenant by the curtesy.

SEC. 38. If the husband shall abandon his wife without just cause, and live apart from her, he shall be barred of his right of taking as tenant by the curtesy ; but if his wife become reconciled to him, and voluntarily live with him again, he shall be restored to such right.

SEC. 39. In case of a divorce, a vinculo matrimonii-from the bonds of matrimony-for the misconduct of the husband, he shall be debarred of his tenancy by the curtesy; but when such divorce is had on account of the misconduct of the wife, he shall still hold her real estate for the term of his life, subject to the power of the circuit court to make reasonable allowance for her sustenance, in accordance with the provisions of chapter sixty-nine.

CHAPTER 50.

ESTATES AT WILL, AND FOR YEARS, AND THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF LANDLORDS AND TENANTS; AND ALSO RESPECTING EASEMENTS.