make a surrender, and conclude with a prayer to be allowed to call a meeting of his creditors, at such time and place as the court may direct, in order that he may lay before them a statement of his affairs and surrender to them his estate; and, in the meantime, all proceedings against his person and property be stayed.

Schedule.

3485. [R. S. 1786.] The debtor shall annex to his petition his schedule, that is to say, a summary statement of his affairs, and the losses he may have experienced, mentioning the names of his creditors, their places of residences, and the amount of their respective claims; and the schedule shall besides contain a statement of all his property, as well movable or immovable, and his rights and actions (except those which hereinafter are secured to him), together with a mention of the approximate value of the property by him assigned.

Exemptions.

3486. [R. S. 1787.] The debtor is not obliged to comprehend in his surrender any property that is not subject to be seized and sold on execution against him.

Signature and Oath.

3487. [R. S. 1788.] The schedule shall be signed by the debtor, if he can write, and be by him sworn to or affirmed, before any judge or justice of the peace, in the following words, or others of the same meaning, to-wit:

"I, A. B., do solemnly swear or affirm (as the case may be) that the above schedule contains a correct and faithful statement of all the property I possess, either in movables or immovables, or in other rights or claims, except, however, those articles which the law authorizes me to keep.

"And I do further solemnly swear that the schedule contains a correct and faithful statement of my active and passive debts, and of the losses I have experienced in my affairs, and that I have neither directly or indirectly diverted any of my property to the injury of my creditors, so help me God."

And the judge or justice of the peace who shall receive such oath, shall certify the same, and cause it to be signed by the debtor, or else declare the reason why he could not sign.

Meeting of Creditors.

3488. [R. S. 1789.] Whenever the judge shall be convinced that the debtor, who wants to surrender his property, has

complied with all the formalities prescribed, he shall indorse on the schedule that the cession of all the property of the insolvent is accepted for the benefit of his creditors, and shall order a meeting of the creditors to be called in the manner and within the time prescribed for respites-Revised Civil Code, Article 3084 et seq.; he shall also appoint an attorney to represent the creditors absent or residing out of the State, if there be any mentioned in the schedule; creditors represented in the parish shall be considered as residing therein.

Stay.

3489. [R. S. 1790.] When issuing the order for the meeting of the creditors, the judge shall order that all proceedings, as well against the person as against the property of the debtor be stayed.

Property Vested in Creditors.

3490. [R. S. 1791.] From and after such cession and acceptance, all the property of the insolvent debtor mentioned in the schedule, shall be vested in his creditors; and the syndic shall take possession of, and be entitled to claim and recover, all the property, and to administer and sell the same according to law.

Provisional Syndic.

3491. [R. S. 1792.] The judge shall have power, on the application of at least three of the creditors of the insolvent debtor, to appoint a provisional syndic, taken by preference from among the creditors, if any of them offer to accept of the trust, who shall take charge of the estate of the insolvent debtor, and keep the same until a syndic is elected and qualified; the judge shall require from him a bond, with one or more good and sufficient securities, the amount of which shall be proportioned to the value of the estate delivered up to him.

His Duties.

3492. [R. S. 1793.] The duties of the provisional syndic shall consist in keeping, as a deposit, all the goods and other effects of the insolvent debtor, which shall be delivered up to him; in performing all the conservatory acts which may be necessary, as well for the interest of the insolvent debtor as for that of the mass of creditors; in demanding and receiving the rents and incomes of the property, as also all the claims of the insolvent debtor, which may become due during his administration; of all which he shall render an account to the syndic appointed by

the creditors; and when rendering the account, shall be entitled to demand for his trouble and services one per cent. on the appraised value of the goods and effects confided to his care, and five per cent. on the rent and income which he shall have recovered during his administration.

Delivery to Him.

3493. [R. S. 1794.] All the goods, titles and claims, which the insolvent creditor shall have mentioned in his schedule, shall be delivered up to the provisional syndic, and shall remain in his hands, subject to the same sequestration as before; and in case the insolvent debtor should refuse to deliver up the goods and effects in his possession, the judge may compel him to do so, by ordering the sheriff to seize the property, or by causing the insolvent debtor to be imprisoned until the delivery is effected. Copies for Notary.

3494. [R. S. 1795.] The debtor who shall have made a surrender of his property shall immediately deliver into the office of the notary, or other officer designated to preside at the meetiing, a copy of his petition and of the orders of the courts relative to the call; as also his schedule, with all the books and papers which may serve to give an explanation of his affairs, in order that his creditors may take cognizance thereof.

Election of Syndic.

3495. [R. S. 1796.] At the meeting of the creditors, after having certified on oath their respective claims to be true and legitimate, they shall proceed to the appointment of a syndic; and the notary public, before whom the meeting is held, shall, before issuing a certificate of election, require from the syndic a bond, with one or more good and sufficient securities, in solido, to the satisfaction of the court; the amount of which bond shall be fixed by a rule adopted relative to curators of vacant successions. Two-thirds of the creditors, in number and amount, may dispense with any security at the meeting, and so express it in the proces verbal. The syndic shall always be bound to give security for the amount of the mortgage and privileged claims.

Proxies.

3496. [R. S. 1797.] At all meetings the creditors shall be empowered to vote by proxy. The proxies shall fulfill all the obligations and conditions now required by law from the creditors represented by them.

Syndic Need Not be Creditor.

3497. [R. S. 1798.] Persons may be appointed syndics to administer ceded property, although they may not be creditors of the ceding debtor.

Majority in Number and Amount.

3498. [R. S. 1799.] In all the deliberations which shall take place between the creditors, either for the choice of syndic or for the sale or disposal of the property surrendered, or for any other object relative to the interest of the mass of creditors, the opinion of the majority of the creditors, in number and in amount, shall prevail; but in case of any equality, then the number of persons shall prevail.

The wife in partnership in goods with her husband, or his heirs, shall not be allowed to vote in the deliberations, unless their rights should have been previously settled by a partition, or a judgment for a separation of goods.

Mortgage Creditors.

3499. [R. S. 1800.] The privileged or mortgaged creditors shall not be bound by the decision of the majority of the other creditors, either in amount or persons, if the latter want to sell the property surrendered on a credit.

The privileged or mortgaged creditors shall have the right to require the sale for cash of so much of the property on which their privilege or mortgages rest, as will be sufficient to make the amount due to them, together with interest and cost, and on such credit as will meet the debts as they become due.

Executory Process.

3500. [Sec. 1, Act 15, 1894, p. 12.] Creditors holding special mortgages containing the pactum de non aliunde shall not lose their rights of executory process upon the property of their debtor, by reason of a cession of property, but in such cases. the right shall continue and be exercised against the syndic, and when the cession takes place after the seizure under executory process it shall be continued against the provisional or definitive syndic.

3501. [Sec. 2.] In all cases when executory process has issued and a surrender has been made and a provisional or definitive syndic has been appointed, the sale under the first process shall be effected the same as if no surrender has been made or syndic appointed.

Proces Verbal.

3502. [R. S. 1801.] When the syndic shall have been appointed in the meeting of the creditors, and the surrender of the property shall have been accepted, it shall be the duty of the syndic, or of the debtor, to deposit in the clerk's office an authenticated copy of the proces verbal of their deliberations. It shall not be necessary to have such deliberations homologated.

Opposition.

3503. [R. S. 1802.] Should any creditor of an insolvent debtor deem it necessary to oppose the appointment of syndic, or to charge fraud against the debtor, he shall, within the ten days next following the meeting of creditors, lay before the court his written opposition, stating specially the several facts of nullity of the appointment or fraud alleged against the insolvent debtor. Whereupon the judge shall decide said opposition; and in case of accusation of fraud, after having received the insolvent debtor's answer, the court shall order a jury to be summoned for the purpose of deciding on the accusation.

All persons shall be considered guilty of fraud who shall have concealed their body, or any of their property, with an intention to keep it from creditors; as also those who, being merchants or shopkeepers, shall have concealed their commercial books and papers, with the same intention; and the same rule shall apply to any insolvent debtor who shall abscond or absent himself from his usual place of residence, without giving his creditors any account of his affairs, and without having previously surrendered to them his property, or who shall transfer the same to any other place, in order to deprive his creditors thereof.

What a Fraudulent Debtor.

3504. [R. S. 1803.] Every insolvent debtor shall also be considered as guilty of fraud who shall have passed simulated deeds for the purpose of conveying the whole or any part of his property, and depriving his creditors thereof, or shall have knowingly omitted to declare any of his property, right or claims in his schedule; or purloined his books or any of them, altered, changed or made them anew, always with an intent to defraud his creditors; or committed any other kind of fraud to the prejudice of his creditors.