Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1742-1783
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DEAD'S PART, n.phr. Sc. law: that part of his movable estate which a testator can freely dispose of by will: “one-third, one-half, or the whole according as he leaves wife and children, wife or children, or neither” (Sc. 1946 A. D. Gibb Legal Terms 26).Sc. 1742 Lord Kames Decis. Court Sess. (1766) 45:
After his death, the same [common property] divides in three equal parts, one part to the wife, another to the children, and the third, called dead's part; which last is the only part the father has power to test upon.Ags. 1783 Will (per Fif.1):
All Legittam or portion natural executory or deads part.
