know all Men by These Presents:

THAT WE.

as Principal

and NATIONAL SURETY COMPANY, à Corporation organized under the Laws of the State of New York, as Surety, are held and firmly bound unto the Commonwealth of Pennsylva nia, in, the sum of

Dollars, to be paid to the said Commonwealth: to which payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, jointly and severally, for and in the whole, our heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, and each and every of them, firmly by these presents.

deceased, do immediately publish for Creditors, etc., and make, or cause to be made, a true and perfect inventory and inventories according to law, of all and singular the Goods, Chattels and Credits of the said deceased, which have come, or shall come, to the hands, possession or knowledge of the said Administrat , as aforesaid, or unto the hands or possession of any other person or persons for and the same so made do exhibit, or cause to be exhibited, into the Register's Office, in the County of Philadelphia, within thirty days from the date hereof, and the same Goods, Chattels and Credits, and all other the Goods, Chattels and Credits of the said deceased at the time of death, which at any time after shall come to the hands or possession of the said Administrat as aforesaid, or unto the hands or possession of any other person or persons for do well and truly administer according to law. And further do make or cause to be made, a just and true account of said Administration within one year of the date hereof, or when thereunto legally required. And all the rest and residue of the said Goods, Chattels and Credits, which shall be found remaining upon such Administrat account (the same being first examined and allowed by the Orphans' Court of the City and County of Philadelphia), shall deliver and pay unto such person or persons respectively as the said Orphans' Court, by their decree and sentence pursuant to law, shall limit and appoint, and shall well and truly comply with the laws of this Commonwealth relating to Collateral Inheritances. And if it shall hereafter appear that any last Will and Testament was made by the said deceased, and the same shall be approved according to law, if the said Administrat as aforesaid, being thereunto required, do surrender the said Letters of Administration into the Register's Office aforesaid then this obligation to be void-otherwise to be and remain in full force.

and on. believe

at...........

.solemn..

A. D. 190

aforesaid

..did depose, declare and say, That.. that the within-mentioned decedent on the ..... day of... .o'clock....... ...M., died without a will. That....... will, as the Administrat well and truly administer the Goods, Chattels and Personal Estate, agreeably to law. That.. will immediately publish for creditors once a week, for six consecutive weeks, and render into the Register's Office, within thirty days of this date, a just and true inventory and appraisement of the personal estate of said deceased, and additional inventories when necessary. Also, a just and true account calculating and reckoning of.. said administration in one year from this date, or

when thereunto legally required. That.

...will well and truly comply with the provisions

of the law relating to Collateral Inheritances. And also that.

And also that the whole of the Goods, Chattels, Rights and Credits of the personal estate. died possessed of..... .................... the aggregate, do not in value exceed the sum of

A. D. 190

Dollars,

CHAPTER XXX

TITLE INSURANCE

A TITLE-INSURANCE policy promises to protect the owner of property, or the lender of money on property, against loss or damage which he may sustain because of any defect in the title or because of its unmarketability, or because of unknown liens or incumbrances against the property at the time the policy is issued. Such policies protect only against loss arising from defects in the title which existed prior to the issuance of the policy, and do not cover defects which arose subsequent to the date in the contract. In other words, the title-insurance policy relates only to the past; it protects the title as it stands when the policy is written, and is unique among all the various types of insurance in so far that it "ends where other insurance begins, namely, at the date of the policy."

A title-insurance policy is written by the company on the theory that no known risks are assumed. Before issuing the policy, the company undertakes a careful examination of all the records and facts which may have a bearing upon the title of the premises which it is proposed to insure, with a view to discovering all defects that may exist. If any are found, they are carefully described in the policy, and then declared to be risks for which the company cannot be held liable. Title insurance thus promises to pay only those losses which result from errors made in the examination of the title from the records, or from defects which were not discovered because they were not recorded. In this connection it should be remembered that there is always a pos

sibility that records relating to real estate may be wrongly interpreted. Lawyers may differ as to the effect which certain instruments or court proceedings will have upon the legality of a title, and their conclusions may be either imperfect or mistaken.

The Advantages of Title Insurance.-Title insurance is probably the least speculative of all the forms of insurance. Yet there is a sufficiently large element of risk attached to titles to make this form of insurance a convenient help to those who own or buy and sell real estate. The various advantages of this form of insurance, if issued by a reliable company, may be summarized as follows:

1. It frees the real-estate owner, or lender of money, from all worry as to possible loss because of a defective title resulting from a faulty examination of the public records. As regards the examination of the title, a titleinsurance company renders all the service given by any other system, the premium including the cost of making a thorough examination, and such an examination being back of every title policy. Furthermore, because of its efficient organization and skilled employees, a large title company can give better and more reliable service than can an individual abstracter. According to law, the abstracter of a title agrees with his employer to furnish a summary of the records relating to all grants, conveyances, wills, liens, and incumbrances, judicial proceedings, mortgages, taxes, assessments, etc., which pertain to his title. The task requires skill, the law holds the abstracter liable in case any loss results because he has not made all the necessary searches, or has not performed his work with "due care," or has certified to something which is incorrect. But the law in this respect is little more than a form; for, supposing that the abstracter is guilty of any of the above acts, how many possess the financial resources to indemnify the holder of the title for loss resulting from a serious mistake? Nor can the abstracter

and

be held liable for not calling the owner's attention to defects in the title which are not within the public records. A large company, with its millions of capital and surplus, on the other hand, can give assurance that if its work is not well done the owner will be indemnified for any loss he may suffer.

2. It gives security against loss resulting from errors of judgment on legal questions involved in the title.

3. It insures against loss resulting from defects which, because they are not in the public records, cannot be discovered from an examination of the same by an abstracter, such as the forgery of instruments, the making of a deed by an attorney-in-fact whose power was fabricated, or under the power of an attorney after the death of the principal, which renders it void, acts of insane persons or minors, improper probate proceedings, and failure of all parties to sign an instrument.

4. It obviates much of the loss frequently resulting from rumors affecting the validity of titles to which real estate is susceptible. Our law reports give evidence of numerous cases involving the legality of titles, and resulting in longdrawn out and expensive litigation. Title-insurance companies, however, provide in the policy that they will at their own expense "defend the insured in all actions or proceedings founded on a claim of title or incumbrance prior in date to the policy, and thereby insured against."

5. The title policy proves advantageous in so far that, unless special conditions to the contrary are inserted, it guarantees the title for all time to come. In this respect title insurance is again unique in that its term runs indefinitely into the future. The holder may assign it to subsequent purchasers or creditors, who then are protected against any loss resulting from defects in the title prior to the original date of the policy. It must be distinctly understood, however, that such purchasers are not protected against de