17. Account before justices. 17. Justices of the peace shall have jurisdiction in all actions on book account where the amount of the balance owing to the plaintiff shall not exceed $200; and in such actions brought before a justice of the peace, on book account, or when any book account shall be pleaded in offset before a justice of the peace, such justice shall have the same power to examine parties, under oath, that is given to auditors under this act.

18. Jurisdiction. § 18. In all cases commenced under the first, fourth and fifth enumerations in section 2 of this act, the several courts of record in this State having chancery jurisdiction are empowered to hear, try and determine the same, to appoint auditors or commissioners iu their discretion, to take testimony or to find the state of facts, or to take, adjust and state accounts between said co-tenants, coparceners, or copartners; and said courts are also empowered to make all such orders and decrees, either interlocutory or final, as may enable such courts to do complete justice to all parties, and such as such courts sitting in chancery could lawfully make in order to the adjustment and final settlement of all copartnership accounts, matters and dealings whatever; and such courts shall render final judgment or judgments in any such action in favor of or against such co-tenants, coparceners, or copartners respectively, as shall be just and equitable, and such as said courts, sitting in chancery, might render, and may enforce such judgment or judgments by execution, or in any other way in which such courts sitting in chancery could enforce the same.

19. Powers of auditors, etc. § 19. Auditors and commissioners, appointed agreeably to the provisions of the last preceding section, shall have the same power to administer oaths to parties and witnesses, and to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and papers, and the parties shall have the same right and be under the same obligation to testify, as is provided in actions of account generally.

20. Book account. § 20. Whenever, on the trial of any action on book account, it shall appear to the court that any item or items of account or deal between the same parties, more properly belong to some other action of account under this act, the same may be tried and adjusted in said action on book account.

21. Appeal-writ of error. § 21. Either party may appeal or prosecute a writ of error from the final judgment rendered under and by virtue of this act, in the same manner and upon the same conditions as provided by law in other cases. [R. S. 1845, p. 46, § II.

22. Act construed. 22. Nothing in this act contained shall be so construed as to deprive courts of chancery of their jurisdiction in matters of account. [R. S. 1845, p. 46, § 12.

AN ACT in regard to the administration of estates. [Approved April 1, 1872. In

force July 1, 1872.]

GRANTING LETTERS TESTAMENTARY, ETC

1. Letters testamentary and of administration with will annexed. SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

represented in the General Assembly, That when a will has been duly proved, and allowed, the county court shall issue letters testamentary thereon to the executor named in such will, if he is legally competent and accepts the trust, and gives bonds to discharge the same; and when there is no executor named in such will, or the executor named therein dies, refuses to act, or is otherwise disqualified, the court shall commit the administration of the estate unto the widow, surviving husband, next of kin, or creditor, the same as if the testate had died intestate. In all cases copies of the will shall go out with the letters. [R. S. 1845, p. 540, $19.

2. Duty of person named as executor-penalty. $2. It shall be the duty of any person, knowing that he is named or appointed as the executor of the last will and testament of any person deceased, within thirty days next after the decease of the testator, to cause such will to be proved and recorded in the proper county; or to present the will and declare his refusal to accept of the executorship; and every such executor neglecting to do so, without just excuse for such delay, shall forfeit the sum of $20 per month from and after the expiration of said term of thirty days, until he shall cause probate of said will to be made, or present the same as aforesaid, to be recovered by action of debt, for the use of the estate, by any person who will sue for the same in any court having jurisdiction thereof. [R. S. 1845, p. 540, § 20.

3. When minor or married woman executor. §3. Persons of the age of seventeen years, of sound mind and memory, may be appointed executors; but when a person appointed executor is, at the time of proving the will, under the age of twenty-one years, or of unsound mind, or convicted of any crime rendering him infamous, administration with the will annexed may be granted during his minority or other disability, unless there is another executor who accepts the trust, in which case the estate shall be administered by such other executor until the minor arrives at full age or the other disability is removed, when, upon giving bond as in other cases, he may be admitted as joint executor with the former. When a married woman is executrix, her husband may give bond with her for her faithful performance of the trust as in other cases.

[R. S. 1845, P. 541, § 23; Huls v. Buntin, 47 Ill. 396.

4. Power of executor before probate—waste, etc. §4. The power of the executor over the testator's estate, before probate of the will and obtaining letters testamentary, shall extend to the burial of the deceased, the payment of necessary funeral charges, and the

[*105] taking care of the estate; but in all such cases if the will is rejected when presented for probate, and such executor thereby never qualifies, he shall not be liable as an executor of his own wrong, unless upon refusal to deliver up the estate to the person authorized to receive the same; Provided, that this section shall not be construed to exempt any person claiming to be executor as aforesaid, for any waste or misapplication of such estate. [R. S. 1845, p. 541, § 24.

5. Death, etc., of part of executors. 5. Where two or more executors are appointed in and by the same will, and one or more of them dies, refuses to take upon himself the executorship, or is other

wise disqualified, letters testamentary shall be granted thereon to the other person or persons so named, not renouncing as aforesaid, and not disqualified. [R. S. 1845, p. 541, § 25.

6. Oath of executor-form. § 6. Every executor or administrator, with the will annexed, shall, at the time of proving the will and granting letters testamentary, or of administration, take and subscribe the following oath, to wit:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that this writing contains the true last will and testament of the within named A. B., deceased, so far as I know or believe; and that I will well and truly execute the same by paying first the debts and then the legacies mentioned therein, as tar as his goods and chattels will thereunto extend, and the law charge me; and that I will make a true and perfect inventory of all such goods and chattels, rights and credits as may come to my hands or knowledge belonging to the estate of the said deceased, and render a fair and just account of my executorship, when thereunto required by law, to the best of my knowledge and ability; so help me God.

Which said oath shall be administered by the clerk of the county court and be attached to and form a part of the probate of said will. [R. S. 1845. P. 541, $ 26,

7. Bond of executor-form. $7. All executors hereafter appointed, unless the testator shall otherwise direct in the will, and all administrators with the will annexed, shall, before entering upon their duties, enter into bond with good and sufficient security to be approved by the county court, and in counties having a probate court by the probate court, in the sum double the value of the personal estate, and payable to the people of the State of Illinois, for the use of the parties interested, in the following form, to wit:

Know all men by these presents that we, A. B., C. D., and E. F., of the county of and State of Illinois, are held and firmly bound unto the people of the State of Illinois, in the penal sum of dollars, current money of the United States, which payment, well and truly to be made and performed, we and each of us bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators, jointly, severally and firmly by these presents. Witness our hands and seals this day of A. D. 18

The condition of the above obligation is such, that if the above bounden A. B., executor of the last will and testament of G. H., deceased (or administrator, with the will annexed of G. H., deceased, as the case may be), to make, or cause to be made, a true and perfect inventory of all and singular the goods and chattels, rights and credits, lands, tenements and hereditaments, and the rents and profits issuing out of the same, of the said deceased, which have or shall come to the hands, possession or knowledge of the said A. B., or into the possession of any other person for him, and the same so made do exhibit in the county court (or probate court) for said county of , as required by law; and also make and render a fair and just account of his actings and doings as such executor (or administrator), to said court, when thereunto lawfully required; and do well and truly fulfill the duties enjoined on him in and by the said will; and shall, moreover, pay and deliver to the person entitled thereto, all the legacies and bequests contained in said will, so far as the estate of the said testator will thereunto extend, according to the value thereof, and as the law shall charge him; and shall, in general, do all other acts which may, from time to time, be required of him by law-then this obligation to be void; otherwise to remain in full force and virtue. Which said bond shall be signed and sealed by the said executor (or administrator) and his securities, and filed in the office of the clerk of the county court, or office of the clerk of the probate court in counties having a probate court, and spread upon the records: and that where it becomes necessary to sell the real estate of any intestate, for the payment of debts against his estate, under the provisions of this act, or in case real estate is to be sold under any provision of a will, the court shall require the execu tor (or administrator) to give further and additional bond, with good and sufficient security, to be approved by the court, in a sum double the value of the real estate of the decedent sought to be sold, and payable to the people of the State of Illinois, for the use of the parties interested, in the form above prescribed. [R. S. 1845, P. 541, $ 27. As amended by an act approved May 30, 1881; in force July 1, 1881; L. 1881, p. 1. 8. When security not required. 8. When any testator leaves visible estate more than sufficient to pay all his debts, and by will shall direct that his executors shall not be obliged to give security, in