Deathwatches

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

At some point, I'm going to be starting another Keptverse series, and I started wondering....what happens when a master dies? Presumably, you can will your slaves to your heirs, but until the estate is settled, would Commerce want someone in the household to make sure no one tries to run? What do people think?

ETA: To be more specific:

Lord X has been ill for several years, and has been comatose for the past few months. His breathing and heart rate suddenly become very erratic, so his Agent calls the doctor. About two hours later, the monitor flatlines. It's 3 am. What happens next?

Comments

[dairwendan.livejournal.com]

I would think that whoever is named as the executor/executrix of the will would be responsible for the slaves, the same as they are responsible for the other property. They would probably have to submit an inventory of slaves to Commerce within a certain period of time after the death, and they would have to report where each slave went, whether they were inherited or sold. I think that Commerce would only come in if there was a protest filed against the will, if for some reason the exec asked them to, or if the owner died without a will.

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

This sounds most likely to me. There's also that situation where an heir might want to liquidate many of the assets of an estate, and that's where Commerce would most likely come in -- since slaves are not sold at auction Like in the bad old days, but through the Commerce system. Definitely the 50 year old would be in danger of being liquidated for cash -- there might also be an opportunity for commerece to act as Appraisors, right, since no one else assigns slaves their value. I do not think that Commerce would automatically own the slaves back -- I must have missed how it is like leasing since it looks more like ownership with reversion to Commerce (I'm not a lawyer and my terms are probably wrong)! That is, Commerce oversees the sale and transfer of slaves, but only owns them when they initially become slaves or when they are between owners. ... right? but in the case of death, the estate would own them until the deed or title of ownership is transferred to whoever inherited them or they are sold back to Commerce for their cash value. I also wonder if there are bidding wars at Commerce. Can buyers like look at a catalog of individuals, or, as it seems, they can only stipulate a type? .... Seems like commerece loses a lot of value when, as with Jensen, a particularly attractive slave with high-profile owners, who should be a "hot" commodity, becomes anonymous in the system. and how often, as in the case with Jeff buying Jensen from Crudup, does this type of direct sale occur? Many questions -- all in a horrifying impersonal tone. Ack.