It is but just that he who is recognized as the heir of a deceased person, should discharge the debts of the latter. For the reason, therefore, that fraud ought, under no circumstances, to be excused, we hereby decree that the following law shall be forever observed, to wit: That whoever gives to any person, by any instrument in writing, any property whatever, no matter where said property may be situated, and he who gave such property shall not be the owner thereof; or if he was the owner, what he has given, he has already pledged to another by a former written document, or has conveyed it to anyone else under some contract; and he should subsequently dispose of said property, which was either not his own, or had been previously pledged to another, as aforesaid; as soon as the commission of said fraudulent act shall become known; he who is guilty, should he still be living, shall be liable for the amount mentioned in said instrument executed by him, and shall suffer whatever penalty it prescribes. But if the fraud should not become known until after his death, either his heirs shall be compelled to execute, for the benefit of the complainant, whatever the maker of said fraudulent instrument promised therein; or if the amount promised, or the penalty set forth in said forged paper, shall be greater in amount than the property left by said person, and his heirs should be unwilling to make satisfactory amends for the act of their ancestor; they shall be forced to surrender, at once, their entire inheritance to the complainant. Where there are no heirs, the entire property of the deceased shall, by the provisions of the present law, be given up by those to whom it was left by the deceased, or by those who have possession of the same. This rule shall also apply in cases where it is found that he for whose benefit the prior instrument was drawn up, is implicated in the fraud; so that he who actually drew up the paper, as well as he who knew that this was done, shall both be liable for the satisfaction of the obligation, and to the imposition of the penalty set forth in the instrument subsequently executed; and both shall likewise undergo, in person and in property, the penalties provided by a former law in the case of those who are guilty of forgery. =ANCIENT LAW.= =IX. Concerning those who Falsely Write, or Publish, Decrees and Edicts of the King.=