Extracted From:
      A LAW DICTIONARY ..., SIXTH EDITION, 1856
      by John Bouvier
      CHILDS & PETERSON, PHILADELPHIA

DEAD MAN'S PART, English law. By the custom of London, when a deceased freeman
of the city left a widow and children, after deducting what was called the
widow's chamber, (q.v.) his personal property was divided into three parts; one
of which belonged to the widow, another to
the children, and the third to the administrator. When there was only a widow,
or only children, in either case they respectively took one moiety, and the
administrator the other; when there was neither widow nor child, the
administrator took the whole for his own use and this portion was called the
"dead man's part." By statute of 1 Jac. 2, c. 17, this was changed, and the dead
man's part is declared to be subject to the statute of distribution....

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