AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 6 OF THE REVISED CODE OF DELAWARE, 1935, ENTITLED: "STATE REVENUE," IN RELATION TO ESCHEATS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. That Chapter 6 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, be and the same is hereby amended by striking out and repealing all of 112. Sec. 78, 113. Sec. 79, 114. Sec. 80, 115. Sec. 81, and 133. Sec. 99, of the said Chapter, and by inserting in lieu thereof the following sections, to-wit:
112. Sec. 78. Estates Escheat, When; Rights of Surviving Widow or Husband Preserved:--If any person, being at the time of his or her death seized or possessed of any real or personal estate within this State, die intestate, without heirs, or any known kindred, who can inherit and hold the same, such estate shall escheat to the State, subject to all legal demands on the same; provided, that nothing in Sections 78 to 100 inclusive, of this Chapter contained, shall affect the rights of the surviving widow or husband of such deceased to such share of his or her real and personal estate as she or he may be entitled to by law.
0. Sec. 79. Escheator; State Tax Commissioner To Be Escheator:--There shall be an Escheator of the State, who shall be the State Tax Commissioner, and the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this Article is hereby vested in the State Tax Department and the State Tax Commissioner as created and defined in Chapter 8 of Volume 36, Laws of Delaware.
112. Sec. 80. Bond of Escheator; Shall Serve Without Additional Compensation; Oath of Office:--The official bond of the State Tax Commissioner shall be deemed and held to embrace and include the faithful performance by the said State Tax Commissioner of all and every the duties imposed by this Act. The said State Tax Commissioner, for the performance of the duties of Escheator imposed upon him by this Act, shall receive no additional compensation therefor, and before entering upon his duties as Escheator, as in this Act defined, he shall take the oath or affirmation prescribed by Article XIV of the Constitution of this State.
115. Sec. 81. Jury of Inquest:--The Escheator, upon his own knowledge, or upon receiving information of any person dying intestate and without heirs, or any known kindred, as stated in Section 78 of this Article, and who was at the time of his death seized or possessed of any real or personal estate within any county of this State, shall forthwith issue his precept, directed to the Sheriff of the said County, thereby commanding him to summon sixteen good and lawful men of the said County, to come before the said Escheator at some public and convenient place within the said County, not less than ten nor more than twenty days thereafter, to inquire whether, as shall be alleged, the said person hath died without heirs, or any known kindred, as aforesaid, and whether such person was, at the Dime of his or her death, seized or possessed of any and what estate, real or personal, in the said County, and also in whose possession the same shall be.
133. Sec. 99. Expenses, How Paid:--Until such time as appropriation therefore is provided by the General Assembly, the said Escheator may, from time to time, draw his warrant upon the State Treasury for such sums as shall be necessary to pay the expenses of the enforcement of the provisions of this Article, which said warrants, when approved by the Auditor of Accounts, shall be paid by the State Treasurer out of the General Fund of the State Treasury.