Settlement

Settlement, in English law, includes any deed, will, or other instrument by which successive interests are created in the same property, the use or income being given to one person, while the corpus of the property is preserved for his successor. A will is revocable in its nature; a settlement made by deed is irrevocable unless it contain an express power of revocation. See the articles DISPOSITION, ENTAIL, ESTATE, LAND LAWS, HUSBAND AND WIFE; in the last of which the distinction between ante-nuptial and post-nuptial settlements is explained. In Scotland the term settlement includes any general will or disposition to take effect after death. In the United States settlements other than marriage settlements are little in use; and marriage settlements are of less importance, most of the states having long since adopted the principle of the married women's property act. A person is said to have a settlement in a parish when by residence or otherwise he has acquired a claim to be relieved out of the rates if destitute; see POOR-LAWS, p. 315.