the said will of the testator; it will lessen the probabilities which exist at the present time of declaring heirs ad intestato when there are heirs by will; and, finally, it will give the public who desire to invest capital in real estate acquired by inheritance more sources from which to ascertain, in so far as practicable, what is of greatest interest to it-that is, whether the contract executed with the person who appears to be the owner according to the registry will be exposed or not to its invalidation within the period of five years. The project requires that the greatest secrecy regarding wills recorded during the lifetime of the testator be observed, but as soon as his death has been proved the registry is made public, as no prejudice can result from their being made known; the persons interested are obligated before obtaining a declaration of heirship ab intestato or the judicial approval of partitions made by virtue of a will, to present in the proper inferior court a certificate stating the wills which may have been recorded relating to the testator; notaries are prohibited from authenticating instruments of award or partition, if this certifi cate is not presented to them, and, finally, in order that the registry, the creation of which is proposed, may have its principal effect, registers are required to state the contents of the certificate in the record. In this manner, without introducing any modification whatsoever in the civil law, without attempting to know the will of the testator, without adding formalities to those which are to-day required to validate instruments in which the disposition of property after death is ordered, and without altering the prescriptions of article 23 of the mortgage law, the undersigned secretary believes that third persons will be granted greater security, as even during the five years the effects of the record are to be suspended, they do not run the risk of being despoiled by heirs having a better right. And this will not be the only advantage of the project, if it meets with the approval of Your Majesty. The registry once established, judges and courts will have a new source from which to ascertain the existence of last wills, with regard to the falsity of which litigation arises. The basis and the authorized precedent of this registry are the ones which are kept with beneficial results in various provinces, due to the initiative and zeal of their notarial associations, some of which the undersigned secretary has had occasion to examine personally, this valuable experience causing him to generalize on the subject. The present reform is nothing more than the beginning of a service which at some future time will require development by legal precepts of greater scope; but it is of importance to establish it immediately in order that the benefits thereof may accrue and be fully utilized in the definite reforms to which our civil law must be subjected at a period which, depending upon the patriotism of all parties to assist in this national work, is believed to be not far distant. Based on these considerations and after having heard the opinion of the chambers of administration of the audiencias, that of the boards of directors of the notarial associations, and that of the board of officers of the registry division, all of which agree to the usefulness of the institution, the undersigned secretary, in accordance with the council of secretaries, has the honor to submit the annexed draft of a decree for the approval of Your Majesty. Madrid, November 14, 1885. Sir, at the royal feet of Your Majesty, ROYAL DECREE. FRANCISCO SILVELA. In conformity with the suggestion of the secretary of grace and justice, in accordance with the opinion of the council of seretaries, I decree the following: ARTICLE 1. From January 1, 1886, there shall be kept a general registry of wills in the general administration of civil registers and those of property and of notaries. The private registries which shall also be kept in each one of the offices of the deans of the notarial associations of Spain and the colonies, as well as the data furnished by the consular agents abroad, shall serve as a basis for the general registry. ART. 2. The general registry shall contain (a) Open or sealed wills, codicils, powers to bequeath, revocations, retractions of the latter, gifts causa mortis, declarations of poverty in which property which may be acquired in the future is disposed of, and in general all instru ments relative to the expression or modification of last wills in which a notary assists, either of the Peninsula, adjacent islands, or colonies, or a parish priest at places where, according to law, right, or custom, he assists as certifier, or a consular agent abroad. (b) The declarations made by judges to the effect that the instruments presented to them for this purpose are wills or the depositions of witnesses in a proper case, and of the decree issued ordering that testamentary memorials be included in protocols. (c) Final judgments which affect the validity of testaments and other acts of last will. ART. 3. The general registry, as well as the private ones, shall be kept on sheets which contain the following printed columns: First, names and surnames of the testators; second, their character; third, residence or domicile; fourth, status (whether married or single); fifth, names and surnames of their parents; sixth, notary or official who authenticated the instrument, or the judge who made the declaration or issued the decree, and clerk who officiated; seventh, town in which it took place; eighth, date; ninth, character of the last will; tenth, remarks. ART. 4. The general registry and the private ones of each notarial association shall be secret, under the liability of the personnel in this service in the administration and offices of deans of notarial associations. Certificates may only be issued in accordance with the contents of the general registry in the following cases: First, when they are requested by judges or superior courts or officials for business of the service; second, when the principals themselves request them, proving their identity; third, when they are requested by any person, if he proves with an authentic document the death of the person of whom it is desired to ascertain whether any last will has been recorded or when said death is already known. The certificates shall be issued by the chief of the bureau, countersigned by the director, on the proper stamped paper, which shall be furnished by the petitioners, who shall pay 1 peseta for each certificate as fees. These amounts shall be destined to cover the expenses of this service until, they and the income having been ascertained, either may be included in the budgets of the State. The proper draft of all certificates issued, authenticated with the rubric of the director and surname of the clerk, shall be filed. ART. 5. Parish priests, judges of first instance, and notaries of the Peninsula, adjacent islands, and the colonies, who in any manner whatsoever take part in the executions or declarations mentioned in article 2, shall direct a communication within the third day, computed from the date of the execution or declaration, to the dean of the respective notarial association, in which, in separate and numbered paragraphs, the data mentioned in article 3 shall be included. In case all of them can not be stated, they shall state that the ones included are the only ones they have been able to obtain. The consular agents of Spain abroad shall forward to the general administration the communication referred to in the preceding paragraph. The administration shall issue printed forms for the communications. As soon as notaries forward the communication, they shall state this fact by means of a memorandum at the margin of the respective instrument, collecting 1 peseta therefor, which must be paid by the party interested. Half of the fees collected by the notaries in this manner shall be credited to the treasury of the respective notarial association, being destined, in so far as necessary, to defray the expenses caused by this new service. ART. 6. Deans of notarial associations, immediately upon receiving the communications referred to in the preceding article, shall order that the data be entered in the private registry to be kept in the office of the dean. The private registry of each territory shall be kept according to alphabetical order of surnames, on sheets containing columns of common paper, which shall be bound annually, the manner of conducting this service being in charge of the respective boards. The administration shall issue to the same the necessary sheets, also of common paper, so that in the proper columns there may be entered, in alphabetical order of surnames, the data contained in the communications, entire sheets being assigned to each letter of the alphabet. ART. 7. On the 1st and 16th of every month the deans of the notarial associations of the Peninsula and Balearic Islands shall forward to the direction such sheets which are entirely filled, stating in the communication the number they forward, the number begun, and the entries contained on each one of the latter, with a statement of the letter to which they correspond. If, on the day the transmission is to be made, there should not be any sheets which have been completely filled, corresponding to one letter, said transmission shall be deferred until the following one, on which day it shall be made, although no sheet has been filled. The direction shall form the general registry with the sheets which are forwarded by the deans of the notarial associations and with the data furnished by the consular agents, which must also be contained on full sheets, one for each letter. There shall, moreover, be kept a strict alphabetical index to facilitate the search for entries in the general registry. The deans of notarial associations of the Canary Islands and the colonies shall forward their sheets every month in the same manner. Consular agents shall forward the proper communication within the same period of one month. ART. 8. Whenever a declaration is requested that a person has died ab intestato or the judicial approval of partitions made by virtue of any last will, there shall be presented in the proper court of first instance a certificate of the direction stating those which appear recorded or that none made by the testator appears recorded. The certificate shall be attached to the decrees, and, without prejudice to the judge deciding what he may deem proper, he shall observe in making the declaration of death ab intestato or in approving the partitions that the contents of the certificate are entered. ART. 9. Notaries who are requested to certify to instruments of awards or partitions of property acquired by testate inheritance shall require the persons interested to present to them a certificate of the direction stating whether there appears recorded or not any other last will of the principal. The certificate shall be attached to the original instrument and shall be included in the copies which may be issued. ART. 10. Registers of property shall briefly state in the record the property acquired by testate or intestate inheritance, the contents of the certificate of the direction, and shall suspend it for a defect capable of correction if the latter is not included in the instrument or in the decree of declaration or in the judicial approval. ART. 11. The general division of registries and notaries shall exercise a general inspection of this service and shall administratively correct any errors which may be corrected by the officials in charge of the same. TEMPORARY PROVISION. The proper rules for the execution of this royal decree by the officials upon whom its fulfillment is incumbent, shall be issued by the state, grace and justice, and colonial departments. Issued at Pardo on November 14, 1885. ALFONSO. FRANCISCO SILVELA, Secretary of Grace and Justice. APPENDIX V. ROYAL DECREE OF MARCH 17, 1893, MODIFYING THE NOTARIAL DEMARCATION OF THE ISLAND OF CUBA.@ • The table showing notarial demarcation in Cuba has been omitted. SENATE DOCUMENT NO. 197, 56TH CONGRESS, 1ST SESSION. THE SPANISH BANK OF PORTO RICO. BY-LAWS AND CHARTER OF THE SPANISH BANK OF PORTO |