parent retained only a life interest. Section 4 prohibited Catholics from being legal guardians of Protestant children Section 5 extended the existing prohibition on Protestants marrying Catholics to include marriages abroad. Section 6 prohibited Catholics from buying land or leasing it for more than 31 years. Section 7 gave a Catholic acquiring title to real property six months in which to enter into possession of it, failing which it descended to the nearest Protestant relative. Section 8 was a proviso to section 7, whereby a nearer Catholic relative could pre-empt the Protestant relative by conforming to Protestantism within the six-month window Section 9 was a proviso to section 7, whereby the Protestant wife of a dispossessed Catholic remained entitled to her one-third dower. Section 10 mandated that inheritance from a Catholic would be by gavelkind, that is divided equally between all sons. If the deceased had no sons, the estate was likewise divided between his daughters, or the next closest kin. Section 11 was a proviso to section 10 to allow provision for daughters from the estate before the residue was subdivided among the sons. Section 12 was a proviso to section 10 to allow the eldest son to inherit the whole estate (by primogeniture) if he was a Protestant, or converted within three months of his father's death. Thus, the law had the effect of reducing the size and thus the influence of Roman Catholic landed estates, which was the act's ulterior motive. Section 13 mandated that inheritance from a Protestant would according to common law, that is primogeniture. Section 14 provided that debts of Catholics be registered with the Court of Exchequer, to ensure they were paid out of the estate before the application of gavelkind Section 15 required a putative Protestant to prove their religion by taking specified oaths of supremacy, abjuration and allegiance Section 16 required that, by August 1704, any person with an existing civil or military office must subscribe at quarter sessions to the declarations specified by the English Security of the Succession, etc. Act 1702 which rejected transubstantiation, abjured the Papacy and the Jacobite succession, and gave allegiance to Queen Anne. They must also "receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper according to the usage of the Church of Ireland". As well as excluding Roman Catholics from office, the "sacramental test" excluded Protestant Dissenters, notably Presbyterians, and many had to step down from