TO SETTLE. To adjust or ascertain¹ to pay.

2. Two contracting parties are said to settle an account when they ascertain what is justly due by one to the other; when one pays the balance or debt due by him, he is said to settle such debt or balance. 11 Alab. R. 419

SETTLEMENT, domicil. The right which a person has of being considered as resident of a particular place.

2. It is obtained in various ways, to wit: 1. By birth. 2. By the legal settlement of the father, in the case of minor² children. 3. By marriage. 4. By continued residence. 5. By the payment of requisite⁴ taxes. 6. By the lawful⁵ exercise of a public office. 7. By hiring and service for a year. 8. By serving an apprenticeship⁶; and perhaps some others which depend upon the local statutes⁷ of the different states. Vide 1 Bl. Com. 363; 1 Dougl. 9; 2 Watts⁸' Rep. 44, 342; 2 Penna. R. 432; 5 Serg. & Rawle, 417; 2 Yeates' R. 51; 5 Binn. R. 81; 3 Binn. R.. 22; 6 Serg. & Rawle, 103, 565; 10 Serg. & Rawle, 179. Vide Domicil.

SETTLEMENT, contracts. The conveyance⁹ of an estate, for the benefit of some person or persons.

2. It is usually made on the prospect¹⁰ of marriage for the benefit of the married pair, or one of them, or for the benefit of some other persons, as their children. Such settlements vest the property in trustees upon specified¹¹ terms, usually for the benefit of the hushand and wife during their joint¹² lives, and then for the benefit of the survivor¹³ for life, and afterwards for the benefit of children. Ante-nuptial agreements of this kind will be enforced in equity¹⁴ by a specific performance of them, provided they are fair and valid¹⁵, and the intention of the parties is consistent with the principles and policy of law. Settlements after marriage, if made in pursuance of an agreement in writing entered into prior to the marriage, are valid, both against creditors¹⁶ and purchasers.

4. When made without consideration, after marriage, and the property of the hushand is settled upon his wife and children, the settlement will be valid against subsequent creditors, if, at the time of the settlement being made, he was not indebted; but, if he was then indebted, it will be void as to the creditors existing at the time of the settlement; 3 John. Ch. R. 481; 8 Wheat. R. 229; unless in cases where the hushand received a fair consideration in value of the thing settled, so as to repel¹⁷ the presumption¹⁸ of fraud. 2 Ves. 16 10 Ves. 139. Vide 1 Madd. Ch. 459; 1 Chit. Pr. 57; 2 Kent, Com. 145; 2 Supp. to Ves. jr. 80, 375; Rob. Fr. Conv. 188. See Atherl. on Mar³. passim.

5. The term settlement is also applied¹⁹ to an agreement by which two or more persons, who have dealings together, so far arrange their accounts, as to ascertain the balance due from one to the other; and settlement sometimes signifies a payment in full.

TO SEVER²⁰, practice. When defendants²¹ who are sued jointly²² have separate de-fences, they may in general sever, that is, each one rely on his own separate defence; each may plead severally and insist on his own separate plea. See Severance²³.

SEVERAL. A state of separation or partition. A several agreement or cove-nant, is one entered into by two or more persons separately, each binding²⁴ himself for the whole; a several action is one in which two or more persons are separately charged; a several inheritance, is one conveyed so as to descend²⁵, or come to two persons separately by moieties²⁶. Several is usually opposed to joint. Vide 3 Rawle, 306. See Contract; Joint Contract, Parties to action.