§  15.  Every  jointure,  devise  and  every  pecuniary  provision  in  lieu  of  dower
shall  be  forfeited  by  the  woman  for  whose  benefit  it  shall  be  made,  in  the  same
cases  in  which  she  would  forfeit  her  dower,  and  upon  such  forfeiture  any  estate
so  conveyed  for  jointure,  and  every  pecuniary  provision  so  made  shall  immediately
vest  in  the  person  or  his  legal  representatives  in  whom  they  would  have  vested
on  the  determination  of  her  interest  therein,  by  the  death  of  such  woman.
§  16.  No  act,  deed  or  conveyance  executed  or  performed  by  the  husband  with-
out the  assent  of  his  wife,  evidenced  by  her  acknowledgment  thereof  in  the  man-
ner required  by  law  to  pass  the  estates  of  married  women,  and  no  judgment  or
decree  confessed  by  or  recovered  against  him,  and  no  laches,  default,  covin  or
crime  of  the  husband  shall  prejudice  the  right  of  his  wife  to  her  dower  or  joint-
ure, or  preclude  her  from  the  recovery  thereof  if  otherwise  entitled  thereto.
§  17.  A  widow  may  tarry  in  the  chief  house  of  her  husband  forty  days  after
his  death  whether  her  dower  be  sooner  assigned  to  her  or  not,  without  being
liable  to  any  rent  for  the  same,  and  in  the  mean  time  she  shall  have  her  reason-
able sustenance  out  of  the  estate  of  her  husband.
§  25.  A  widow  may  bequeath  the  crop  in  the  ground  of  the  land  holden  by  her
In  dower.
