BILL OF SALE - A document under
which personal property is transferred from a seller
to a buyer.
An agreement in writing, under seal, by which a man
transfers the right or interest he has in goods and
cbattels, to another. As the law imports a consideration
when an agreement is made by deed, a bill of sale
alters the property.
The Act of Congress of January 14, 1793, provides,
that when any ship or vessel which shall have been
registered pursuant to that act, or the act thereby
partially repealed, shall in whole or in part be sold
or transferred to a citizen of the United States,
in every such sale or transfer, there shall be some
instrument or writing in the nature of a bill of sale,
which shall recite at length the certificate of registry;
otherwise the said ship or vessel shall be incapable
to be registered anew.
In England a distinction is made between a bill of
sale for the transfer of a ship at sea, and one for
the conveyance of a ship in the country; the former
is called a grand bill of sale, the latter, simply,
a bill of sale. In this country there does not appear
to be such a distinction.
In general, the maritime law requires that the transfer
of a ship should be evidenced by a bill of sale. But
a contract to sell, accompanied by delivery of possession,
is sufficient.
