Presumptive Title - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition presumptive-title

Definition :

Presumptive title. A barely presumptive title, which is of the very lowest order, arises out of the mere occupation or simple possession of property (jus possessionis, Lat.), without any apparent right, or any pretence of right, to hold and continue such possession. This may happen when one man disseises another; or where after the death of the ancestor, and before the entry of the heir, a stranger abates and holds out the heir. The law assumes that the actual occupant of land has the fee-simple in it, unless there be evidence rebutting such pre-sumption, or his possession be properly explained and shown to be consonant with the right of the true proprietor of the reversionary fee. Such a presumption, in the absence of any satisfactory proof to the contrary, will sustain an action for a tresspass by a wrongdoer, and will indeed be strengthened, by lapse of time, into a title complete and indefeasible.

This assumption is based on the well-known feudal maxim that seisin must be the basis or standpoint in the deduction of every title except in the case of descent.