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Gavelkind. A mode or rule of descent by custom abolished by the Administration of Estates Act, 1925, s. 45(1)(a), in the case of all deaths after 1925 except in regard to entailed estates, and descent from a person of unsound mind, as provided by s. 51 (ibid.), and see (English) L.P. Act, 1922, 12th Sched. (1)(d), and Re Price, 1928 Ch 579. The word is derived from the Saxon word 'gafol,' or, as it is otherwise written, 'gavel,' which signifies 'rent' or a 'customary performance of husbandry works'; accordingly the land which yielded this kind of service, in contradistinction to knight-service land, was called 'GAVELKIND' that is 'land of the kind that yields rent.' Lambarde (Perambulations of Kent, Edn. 1656, p. 585) first advanced and promulgated this supposition, which does not seem to be sufficiently comprehensive since 'gavelkind' does not necessarily denote land subject to rent, in opposition to the opinion of Lord Coke, who traced the word to 'gave all kinde' 'for the custom giv...
Merger
Merger [fr. mergo, Lat., to sink], an annihilation, by act of law, of a particular in an expectant estate consequent upon their union in the same person without an intervening estate in another person--thus accelerating into possession the expectant which swallows up the particular estate. It is the drowning of one estate in another, and differs from suspension, which is but a partial extinguishment for a time; while extinguishment, properly so termed, is the destruction of a collateral thing in the subject itself out of which it is derived. 'In order that there may be a merger, the two estates which are supposed to coalesce must be vested in the same person at the same time and in the same right' [Re Radcliffe, (1892) 1 Ch 231, per Lindley, LJ]. An estate tail, however is an exception to the rule; for a man may have in his own right both an estate tail and a reversion in fee; and the estate tail, though a less estate, will not merge in the fee, 2 Bl. Com. 177.The doctrine of merger pr...
Copyhold
Copyhold. Tenure in copyhold has been abolished under the (English) L.P. Acts, 1922 and 1925, and the Amending Acts of 1924 and 1926, but the greater part of the former title on this subject has been retained verbatim in view of the importance of the subject in examining titles. In the previous edition of this work, copyhold was described as a base tenure founded upon immemorial custom and usage; its origin is undiscoverable, but it is said to be the ancient villeinage modified and changed by the commutation of base services into specified rents, either in money or money's worth.A copyhold estate is a parcel of the demesnes of a manor held at the lord's will, and according to the custom of such manor. The tenant may have the same quantities of interest in this tenure as he may enjoy in freeholds, as an estate in fee-simple or (by particular custom) fee-tail, or for life, and he may have only a chattel interest of an estate for years in it. By the custom of some manors, the estate devol...
Settled land
Settled land. For the purposes of the (English) Settled Land Acts, 1882-1890, 'settled land' meant land, and any estate and interest therein, which was the subject of a settlement; and 'settlement' meant any instrument, or any number of instruments, under which any land, or any estate or interest in land, 'stands for the time being limited to or in trust for any persons by way of succession' (Settled Land Act, 1882, s. 2) (see infra for the statutory definitions in the Settled Land Act, 1925, which has repealed the S.L. Acts, 1882-1890). Where the settlement consists of more instruments than one it is commonly called a 'compound settlement,' though this term is not defined in the Acts themselves; as to compound settlements, see Re Du Cane & Nettlefold, (1898) 2 Ch 96; Re Munday & Roper, (1899) 1Ch 275; Re Lord Wimborne & Browne (1904) 1 Ch 537; Wolstenholme & Cherry, Conveyancing, etc., Acts.Prior to 1856 settled estates could not be sold or leased except under the authority of some po...
Power
Power, in respect of court the word 'power' means an authority expressly or impliedly conferred on the court by law to do that which without that sanction it could not have done, consent cannot give jurisdiction, K.E. v. Vithu, (1899) 1 Bom LR 157.Power, is an authority reserved by, or limited to, a person to dispone, either wholly or partially, of movable or immovable property, either for his own benefit or for that of others. The word is used as a technical term and is distinct from the dominion which a man has over his own estate by virtue of ownership, Stroud's Judicial Dictionary.Power, is not synonymous with jurisdiction, K.E. v. Vithu, (1899) 1 Bom LR 157.Power, may be general or implied. The general powers are such as the donee can exercise in favour of such person or persons as he pleases, including himself, Mahadeo Ramchandra v. Damodar Vishwanath, AIR 1957 Bom 218.Means any form of energy which is not generated by human or animal agency. [The Gujarat Lifts and Escalators Act...
Fee
Fee [fr. feoh, Sax.; fee, Dan., cattle; feudum, Med. Lat.; feu, Scot.], property peculiar; reward or recom-pense for services. See FEES. Also an estate of inheritance divided into there species: (1) fee-simple absolute; (2) qualified or conditional or base fee, including (3) fee-tail, formerly fee-conditional. By the (English) Law of Properties Act, 1925, s. 1, a fee-simple absolute in possession and a term of years absolute are the only estates in land capable of being conveyed or created at law. All other estates in land take effect as equitable interests [ibid., s. 1 (4)]. See FEE-SIMPLE.A charge for labour or services esp. professional services; Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 629.A 'fee' is generally defined to be a charge for a special service rendered to individuals by some governmental agency. The distinction between a tax and a fee lies primarily in the fact that a tax is levied as a part of a common burden, while a fee is a payment for a special benefit or privilege, Com...
Cy-pres
Cy-pres (near to it). The principle of this doctrine of construction is, that where a testator hs two objects,one primary or general and the other secondary or particular, which are incompatible, the particular must be sacrificed in order that effect may be given to the general object, as near as may be to the testator' intention, according to law. Thus, where a testator has devised lands in a manner transgressing the rules of perpetuity and the Court can by giving the estates tail to the devisees, or any of them carry the property in the precise course marked out by the testator, supposing the estates left to themselves, it will do so, see Monypenny v. Dering, 16 M & W 418. The doctrine did not apply to personalty nor to a mixed fund. See Re Harwood, Coleman v. Innes, 1936 Ch 285.It is also applied to charitable bequests, and was formerly pushed to a most extra-vagant length. But this sensible distinction now prevails, that the court will not decree the execution of a charitable trust...
Heir
Heir [fr. heire, Old Fr.; h'res, Lat.], a person who succeeds by descent to an estate of inheritance. It is nomen collectivum, and extends to all heirs; and under heirs, the heirs of heirs are comprehended in infinitum.A person who, under the laws of intestacy, is entitled to receive an intestate decedents property, esp. real property, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 727.The (English) Admin. Of Estates Act, 1925, s. 45, having abolished all modes of descent of real property obtaining before 1st January, 1926, in regard to deaths taking place after 1925, except in a few cases (see DESCENT and DEVOLUTION), the importance of the 'heir' had diminished but the following note has been retained since the word 'heir' will be construed according to its meaning under the general law in force before 1926, in deeds and wills executed after 1925, under which the 'heir' may become entitled to an equitable interest in personality and realty corresponding to a real estate by purchase under the ol...
Limitation of actions and prosecutions
Limitation of actions and prosecutions. By various statutes, of which the first was 21 Jac. 1, c. 16, the (English) Limitation Act, 1623, and the principal succeeding ones, the Real Property Limitation Act, 1833 (3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 42), the (English) Civil Procedure Act (3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 27) [see Read v. Price, (1909) 2 KB 724], and 37 & 38 Vict. c. 57, the (English) Real Property Limitation Act, 1874, certain periods are fixed within which, upon the principle Interest reipublic' ut sit finis litium, particular actions must be brought or proceedings taken.In the case of simple contract the remedy on the contract is barred, leaving the creditor free to enforce his claims by other means which may be still available, such as enforcing a lien, subsequent acknowledgment by the debtor or appropriation of payments, but not by way of set-off (9 Geo. 4, c. 14, s. 3). In regard to land, the right to it is destroyed after the statutory period and neither re-entry nor acknowledgment after the laps...
Terms for years
Terms for years. An estate for years is denominated a term, because its enjoyment is strictly fixed, for by 'term' is meant not only the interest which passes, but also the period for which it is held. It is a chattel real: chattel, because the estate passes to the owner's executors at his death, and did not pass to his heir-at-law, and so far partakes of the nature of personalty; real, because it is an interest in lands, and therefore partakes of the nature of real property.A term is usually created by a deed or speciality contract, called a lease or demise under the Common Law (see LEASE), and the appropriate operative verbs therein are 'demise,' or 'grant, lease, and to farm let'; but any wards showing the intent of the parties that the one (the lessor) shall divest himself of the possession, and the other (the lessee) come into it for a determinate time, are generally sufficient for the purpose.Terms could not be limited in succession or by way of remainder except by way of trust o...
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