In message <008501c4b689$87a615c0$e1d0fc3e@oemcomputer>, "norman.lee1" <norman.lee1@virgin.net> writes >Hello Folks, > >Now we've had a good discussion on the widow's thirds, and very interesting it >has been, can we have something similar on the child's part and the dead's part? The 'deid's part' is a Scottish expression, meaning the third which the testator can dispose of at will. It is different in England >Explanation of the practice of getting rid of a child's rights by cutting >him/her off with a shilling could also be enlightening. Usually, leaving a son or daughter one shilling just means that they have already had their share or the estate, on setting up in business or marriage. Where someone is really 'cut off' it usually says 'twelve pence of English money and no more, because he had been ungrateful to his mother and myself' The name had to be mentioned, otherwise the son could contest the will on the grounds that his name had simply been missed in copying. The above phrase makes it quite clear - forgotten, no, disliked, yes. -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society