Allodial

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

From the low Latin allodium: every man’s own land, which he possesses in his own right, without owing any rent or service to a superior – property, in the highest degree. Opposed, feodum, a fee.7 Wholly independent, and held of no superior.8 Held in free and absolute ownership. All lands . . are declared to be allodial, and feudal tenures are prohibited” – constitution of Wisconsin. This means little more than if the framers had said “free” or “held in free and absolute ownership”, as contradistinguished from feudal tenures, the prohibition of which, with their servitudes and attendant hindrances to free and ready transfer of realty, constituted the chief object of the provision.

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

What does Allodial mean in American Law?

The definition of Allodial in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

A form of land ownership in which the title holder owns the land as absolutely and outright as it can be held, i.e., not, as in feudal or feudalderived tenure, even formally as the holder of an estate of or from someone else. (Land so held is called an “allodium” (or an “allod”), the plural of which is “allodia.”) In the U.S., though there was once some feudal-type tenure, substantially all land is held allodially; only on a total failure of any heirs will the land go back to the state, and not to it as lord, but via escheat. In England it is still technically true that land cannot be held allodially, but for all important practical purposes the holder of a fee simple has an estate of equal scope and dignity.

Browse

You might be interested in these references tools:

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

<