Cannon v. . Nowell

51 N.C. 436

• Court: Supreme Court of North Carolina
• Decided: June 5, 1859
• Status: Published

Opinion

EuffiN, J.

The opinion of the Court coincides with that of his Honor. Heirs take by positive law when the ancestor dies intestate, and the course of descents cannot be altered by words excluding particular heirs, or by any agreement of parties. Suppose the father to have had no other child at his death but the plaintiff; being the sole heir, he must have taken the whole of the descended land esa necessitate. There must, therefore, be a disposition to another, so as to break the descent, otherwise the land descends, and, of course, it descends according to law ; that is, in this case, to the heirs in general, subject to the provision for bringing advancements into hotchpot. That was decreed in this case, and the decree must be affirmed with costs in this Court.

This opinion will be certified to the Superior Court, to the end that further proceedings may be had there for executing-the decree.

Peis, Curiam, Judgment affirmed.