DISCRETIONARY TRUSTS. Those which cannot be duly administered without the application of a certain degree of prudence1 and judgment2; as when a fund is given to trustees to be distributed in certain charities to be selected by the trustees.
DISCUSSION, civil law. A proceeding3, on the part of a surety, by which. the property of the principal debtor4 is made liable before resort can be had to the sureties; this is called the benefit of discussion. This is the law in Louisiana. Civ. Code of Lo. art. 3014 to 3020. See Domat, 3, 4, 1 to 4; Burge on Sur. 329, 343, 348; 5 Toull. p. 544 7 Toull. p. 93; 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1414.
DISFRANCHISEMENT. The act of depriving a member of a corporation of his right as such, by expulsion. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 192.
2. It differs from amotion, which is applicable to the removal of an officer from office, leaving him his rights as a member. Willc. on Corp. n. 708; Ang. & Ames on Corp. 237; and see Expulsion.
DISGRACE. Ignominy, shame, dishonor. No witness is required to disgrace himself. 13 How. St. Tr. 17, 334; 16 How. St. Tr. 161. Vide Crimination; To Degrade.
DISHERISON. Disinheritance; depriving one of an inheritance. Obsolete5. Vide Disinherison.
DISHERITOR. One who disinherits, or puts another out of his freehold. Obsolete.
TO DISHONOR, contr. This term is applied6 to the nonfulfilment of commercial engagements. To dishonor a bill of exchange, or a promissory note, is to refuse or neglect to pay it at maturity7.
2. The holder8 is bound to give notice to the parties to such instrument of its dishonor, and his laches will discharge the indorsers. Chit. on Bills, 394, 395, 256 to 278.
DISINHERISON, civil law. The act of depriving a forced heir of the inheritance which the law gives him.
2. In Louisiana, forced heirs may be deprived of their legitime, or legal portion, and of the seisin granted them by law, for just cause. The disinherison must be made in proper form, by name and expressly, and for a just cause, otherwise it is null.
3. The just causes for which parents may disinherit their children, are ten in number. 1. If the child has raised his or her hand to strike the parent, or if he or she has actually struck the parent; but a mere9 threat is not sufficient. 2. If the child has been guilty, towards a parent, of cruelty, of a crime, or grievous injury. 3. If the child has attempted to take away the life of either parent. 4. If the child has accused either parent of any capital crime, except, however, that of high treason. 5. If the child has refused sustenance10 to a parent, having the means to afford it. 6. If the child has neglected to take care of a parent, become insane. 7. If a child has refused to ransom11 them when detained in captivity12. 8. If the child used any act of violence or coercion13 to hinder a parent from making a will. 9. If the child has refused to become security for a parent, having the means, in order to take him out of prison. 10. If the son. or daughter, being a minor14, marries without the consent of his or her parents. Civil Code, art. 1609-1613.
4. The ascendants may disinherit their Iegitimate decendants, coming to their succession for the first nine causes above expressed, when the, acts of ingratitude15, there mentioned, have been committed towards them, instead of towards their parents; but they cannot disinherit their descendants for the last cause. Art. 1614.
5. Legitimate16 children, dying without issue, and leaving a parent,. cannot disinherit him or her, unless for the seven following causes, to wit: 1. If the parent has accused the child of a capital crime, except, however, the crime of high treason. 2. If the parent has attempted to take the child s life. 3. If the parent has, by any violence or force, hindered the child from making a will. 4. If the parent has refused sustenance to the child in necessity, having the means of affording it. 5. If the parent has neglected to take care of the child when in a state of insanity17. 6. If the parent has neglected to ransom the child when in captivity. 7. If the father or mother have attempted the life the one of the other, in which case the child or descendant, making a will, may disinherit the one who has attempted the life of the other. Art. 1615.
6. The testator must express in the will for what reason he disinherited his forced heirs, or any of them, and the other heirs of the testator are moreover obliged to prove the facts on which the disinherison is founded, otherwise it is null. Art. 1616. Vide Nov 115 Ayl. Pand. B. 2, t. 29; Swinb. art 7, 22.
