Volume CXXXV: The Fabulous Free Lance Friday Edition; Honour Thy Father and Mother IV – The Mortgage, or ‘Death Pledge’

Hello every One, and welcome to the Fabulous Free Lance Friday Edition where I wield My Words even more fearlessly than usual! Thank King You for joining Me.

If You hadn’t guessed, today I Will be tall King about the mortgage contract. If One has ever dealt with an estate, the mortgage contract Will likely be the primary Issue for most Common People. First, let’s consider what the Word ‘mortgage’ means. An English dictionary provides the following definition:

a legal agreement by which a bank or other creditor lends money at interest in exchange for taking title of the debtor’s property, with the condition that the conveyance of title becomes void upon the payment of the debt.

Oxford Dictionary

If We look at the Word Origin, We can learn a little more:

late Middle English: from Old French, literally ‘dead pledge’, from mort (from Latin mortuus ‘dead’) + gage ‘pledge’.

Oxford Language Dictionaries

Ah, did You think I was fooling? No, it literally means ‘death pledge’, a contract One is bound to Honour until the obligation is fulfilled, or the individual dies.

This was actually one of the very first examples of a Word I learned the True legal meaning of and I was initially somewhat horrified. Let’s face it, it sounds absolutely terrible. Even worse, if the individual dies before the debt is paid, the property is held in Trust, so the conveyance of title can be Given to the creditor in lieu of payment. I’ve since learned that the legal system is far more Honourable than that.

The understanding of this concept begins with what I believe to be the most integral law to fully comprehend, the law of contract. An Honourable individual Will have no fraud or deceit in One’s contracts, and a contract is considered to be ‘Contra Bonos Mores’, or ‘against Good morals’ if it takes advantage of One of the parties. So the legal system has protections in place that ensure an individual cannot be taken advantage of in their contracts, especially a mortgage contract which primarily deals with an individual’s physical real estate (the property).

So what if My dad was a little crazy in his later years and not entirely of sound Mind? What if the bank knew this and encouraged My father to take a loan they knew he could not possibly hope to pay before he died? They encourage him to borrow an amount of money worth only a fraction of the land held as security so that they can seize the property when My father inevitably dies and defaults on the loan. What if that’s exactly what happened with My father?

Well, guess what? There are protections provided within the law for exactly this kind of thing, and the relevance of ‘death pledge’ to the mortgage is not as sinister as it sounds. Why?

Because as I have said before, Courts are all about Honour. Honour is paramount. My father had an obligation to his creditor and even if the creditor was taking advantage of My father, he agreed to the terms of the loan and the creditor deserves to be repaid in Good faith. The creditor does not however, have the right to take advantage of the situation and seize My father’s land – at least, not right away.

The ‘Honour’ system of the court has allowed for some legal protections for exactly this situation.

“Honour thy Father and Mother”

Fifth Commandment

The Ten Commandments are God’s Laws, that is the real Common Law for those who don’t know. God’s Law is the Law We are all expected to know before any laws were Writ by Man. God has Commanded that We Honour Our father and mother. So the next of kin, the heir to the estate, has a Duty to God to Honour their father and mother, which means to fulfill their (parents) obligations by accepting them for Honour.

The Act of doing so forgives the debt!!! That is specifically why it is called a ‘discharge statement’. It is already prepared to be set off against the security for when the next of kin steps up to ‘Honour’ the obligation left behind by the deceased. Why is this provision not only allowed but necessary?

Well, for the Courts to be considered ‘Good’ it would not really be fair to suggest that if My father was crazy and borrowed debt he could never afford to pay, that his family should lose their inheritance because their father was taken advantage of. At the same time, the bank shouldn’t lose out on its investment, either. But here’s where the Issue of Honour really comes into Play.

We are Commanded by God to Honour Our father and mother, which means to accept their debts for Honour. My father’s obligation to the creditor was fulfilled the day he died! My father has no further obligation to the creditor because despite all his Good Will, he could not pay when he’s dead, even if he Wished to do so. The pledge is over and My father (by default) is considered to have died in Honour! So he is NOT defaulting on his debt, his children are defaulting on his debt by failing to accept that debt for Honour. The moment any One offers to accept the dead man’s debt for Honour, the obligation is fulfilled and satisfied.

The agreement to accept for Honour is a new, legally binding contractual agreement between the creditor and the heir of the estate. That legally binding contract has a commercial Value to the creditor, equal to the amount of the debt. The Signing of the debt, ‘Accepted for Honour’ Gives Value to the creditors debt and allows the creditor to apply the Value of the new contract against the outstanding balance of the loan. The reason for this, is no child should be financially burdened for obeying God’s commandments, so the courts would not allow for a family to be bound by the same contractual obligations their father made. The heirs of the estate have no obligation to the creditor, they are Acting in Good Faith. The courts Will never burden a Man for Acting in Good faith, God is considered the Supremacy of Law in all Common Wealth countries.

Basically, the Courts do not Wish to see a family further burdened by the death of a loved one for doing what they are Commanded to do by God. Following God should not be a burden… So the Court has provisions to allow for commercial instruments to Play in Harmony with the Universe (One Song), so that all parties can be satisfied when every One is Acting in Honour.

I hope this Friday finds You well. I have received the Written Contract from the creditors regarding My father’s estate, so all paperwork is in Order and I Will be teaching You all how to do this very shortly.

Love and Blessings,