Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-05-29
Entafled Estates.

In ClQ times, every land owner nelu
his property az a gift from the King
In the first place, the King gave land
to hisbarons, and they. in turn, gave it
to Their dependents. The Kings right
to givt the land was founded upon the
suppoitipn that the land had belonged
to the public, and. that the King, as
the representative of the public, had a
right b give it to individuals. An es-
tate infee tail Gin Lat n, tetduna t0tsto-
tua's) vas land given to man and the
heirs o. his body. On the death of a
holder. the eldest son, or If he were
dead, having heirs, his eldest son, be-.
came he owner, In case the holder
left daughters only, they inherited the
estate together. If there was no de-
scendalts, the land became again the
properly Of the giver, or seller. The
terms gift and sale mean nearly the
same Ting in land transactions.
Othes kinds of estates 10 fee tail were
often made. For example, land was
often gwen to- q man and his male de-
scendarts; or. in another case, TO man
ana his female heirs; or, thirdly, to a
man 4ald his heirs born of particular
marriages. In the first case, only sons
could inherit. i'm the second. only daugh-
tiers; and. in the. third, only his CHI ldren
by the wife named in the deed of gift.
The owner of an estate of this kind
was called a tenant in tail. He had a
light to the estate while he lived. He
might sell it, but on his death, it re.
turned to his children.
& This method of holding was designed
to keep great estates in certain families.
The old English lawyers justified it by
the principle that what was given man
for nleritorious services should go to his
children after him. Another argument
had greater weight. In those times the
monks and priests were continually
scheming to induce people to give land
to the church In their handsit was no
longer taxed for the benefit of the State.
It was therefore desirable to keep the
land out of their clutches, and this ex-
Fedient was the best.
With the advance of civilization the
right to sell land became more and more
A tenant in tail could not
be made to sell his land and pay his
debts. At his death his creditors had
no remedy The debtor was also in a
cruel position. Although the owner OF
a great property, he might be forced to
and pay his debts. sssf
The first plan to evade the law was
invented in the reign of Henry Ill. The
lawyers argued that, inasmuch as the
land was given to a man and the heirs
of his body, the holder had a right tc
sell it, if he had no heir of his body l.
ing.
Ibis scheme was not allowed I'd
long. In the reign of Edward
barons found that, unless thew p
end to this method, they would
little chance of getting back the q
land they had made on this con
They therefore enacted the statut
corning conditional gifts ODE Dom
which declared th
holder of an estate in tail should
no right to sell it for longer
than his own life; and that, in Ct
died. leaving no heirs that cou
herit, the estate should return
giver.
Though the Inconvenience was ST
this law was enforced until the re
", A new method, ca
recovery, was then inv
and proved effective in destroyin
tails,
The holder sold the land. The
then brought an action against MN 10
obtain possession. The tenant in tail
brought into court person who pre-.
tended to be the original giver of the
land, but did not show that it had ever
belonged to him, or that he had ever
had a right to give it. The court then
decided that the holder had no right to
the land, and the buyer took posses
sion.
Another method, used in later times,
was called "a fine" from the Latin
word fms, meaning IS an end twas
30 called because it put an end to an
holding. An action was commenced
and then compromis ed. by leave OF
court. in favor of a buyer. The buyer
look possession of the land, and, at the
end of five years, became the actual
owner.
These specious methods were used
until the time of william ". It was
hen enacted that a simple deed should
nave the same effect as a recovery or
ine. &5ss4 j
Landed property is now kept in FAM
lies by means of settlements VI hen
! marriage is celebrated, land is settled
lpon the husband for his life. and, after
ais death. to the eldest son that may be
BORN of the marriage. To this extent
,Ifly, the old rules about estates in tail
till exist. In the United states, they
lever obtained foothold. Tying up
'mple deed absolutely ends an estate
n TAIL Youths Companion. I
Fszs
A Surfn;f af Wards