Legal Definition and Related Resources of Feoffment

prior to the passing of the statute of frauds in England in 1677, the term denoted the transfer of land by actual physical delivery of corporal possession of the land or tenement , by means of a ceremony called livery of seisin . This practice fell into disuse gradually and began to be replaced by the delivery of a record of the transaction called Deed of Feoffment and the statute of Frauds made the record mandatory .

A gift of any corporeal hereditaments to another. It operates by transmutation of possession, and it is essential to its completion that the seisin be passed. Watk. Conv. 183. The conveyance of a corporeal hereditament either by investiture or by livery of seisin. 1 Sullivan, Lect. 143; 1 Washb. Real Prop. 33. The instrument or deed by which such hereditament is conveyed. This was one of the earliest moods of conveyance used in the common law. It signified originally the grant of a fee or feud; but it came in time to signify the grant of a fee inheritance in fee, respect being had rather to the perpetuity of the estate granted than to the feudal tenure. 1 Reeve, Hist. Eng. Law, 9D. The feoffment was likewise accompanied by livery of seisin. 1 Washb. Real Prop. 33. -The conveyance by feoffment with livery of seisin has become infrequent, if not obsolete, in England, and in this country has not been used in practice. Cruise, Dig. tit. 32, c. 4, § 3; Shep. Touch, c. 9; 2 Bl. Comm. 20; Co. Litt. 9; 4 Kent, Comm. 467; Comyn, Dig.; 12 Viner, Abr. 167; Bac. Abr.; Dane, Abr. c. 104; 1 Washb. Real Prop. 33; 8 Cranch (U. S.) 229.

noun

• assignation of title
• cession of a fee
• conferral of a fee
• conferrment of title
• conveyance of realty
• conveyancing
• conveying title
• delivery of title
• gift of a freehold interest
• investiture of title
• livery of seisin
• passing of seisin
• transfer of property
• transmission of title

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Feoffment in Historical Law

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Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Feoffment in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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Mentioned in these terms

Enfeoff, Innocent Conveyance.

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This definition of Feoffment is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

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Feoffment in the Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims

1. The gift of a feud; infeudation. See Feud. 2. The gift of any corporeal hereditament by delivery of possession upon or within view of the land. 2 Bl. Com.310; 3 N.H. 260.

Note: This legal definition of Feoffment in the Dictionary of Law (English and American Jurisprudence) is from 1893.

Feoffment