/2/ The liabilities of the
heir were probably shrinking. Britton and Fleta, the imitators of
Bracton, and perhaps Bracton himself, say that an heir is not
bound to pay his ancestor's debt, unless he be thereto especially
bound by the deed of his ancestor. /3/ The later law required
that the heir should be mentioned if he was to be held.
But at all events the identification of heir and ancestor still
approached the nature of a universal succession in the time of
Bracton, as is shown by another statement of his. He asks if the
testator can bequeath his rights of action, and answers, No, so
far as concerns debts not proved and recovered in the testator's
life. But actions of that sort belong to the heirs, and must be
sued in the secular court; for before they are so recovered in
the proper court, the executor cannot proceed for them in the
ecclesiastical tribunal. /4/
This shows that the identification worked both ways. The heir was
liable for the debts due from his ancestor, and he could recover
those which were due to him, until [349] the executor took his
place in the King's Courts, as well as in those of the Church.
Within the limits just explained the heir was also bound to
warrant property sold by his ancestor to the purchaser and his
heirs.
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