Doctrine of worthier title
Encyclopedia
In the common law
of England
, the doctrine of worthier title was a legal doctrine that preferred taking title to real estate
by descent
over taking title by devise
or by purchase. It essentially provides that a remainder
cannot be created in the grantor's heirs, at least not by those words.
The rule provided that where a testator undertook to convey an heir the same estate in land that the heir would take under the laws of inheritance, the heir would be adjudged to have taken title to the land by inheritance rather than by the conveyance, because descent through the bloodline was held to be "worthier" than a conveyance through a legal instrument.
, had its origin in attempts by royal courts to avoid various devices contrived by lawyers during the era of feudalism
to retain lands in their families while avoiding feudal duties, and to secure its free alienability. The creation of family settlements designed to preserve land within the family, transfer it without feudal duties due to the lord
s of the fee upon transfer at death, and preserve it from claims of creditors, occupied the ingenuity of many common lawyers during the late Middle Ages
. So did efforts to undo the restrictions placed by ancestors once they became inconvenient. These concerns underlie the explanation given in Coke on Littleton
:
The law deemed that since no one is an "heir" until the person he or she inherits from dies, an attempt to create a remainder interest in the heir created no present interest at all. This interpretation draws strength by analogy from the common words of a conveyance in fee simple
, "to N. and his heirs." This conveyance creates no present interest in any heir; why should a remainder do the same?
gift
s of less than fee simple
interests. Suppose Adam owns title to lands, and executes a deed
"to Beulah for life, and then to Adam's heirs," Caleb and Dinah. Adam's intent in these words of conveyance would appear to be to grant Beulah a life estate
, and then create a vested remainder
interest in his apparent heirs Caleb and Dinah. The remainder interest is vested because Beulah is mortal; her death is certain to happen. But, since Caleb and Dinah are already Adam's apparent heirs, their interest under the laws of descent is "worthier" than the interest they take under the instrument, and the deed is construed as if Adam had stopped with "to Beulah for life." This doctrine is further complicated by the fact that although Caleb and Dinah are Adam's heirs apparent, it is legally impossible to determine who is an heir until the death of the grantor.
The remainder interest Caleb and Dinah were meant to have in the land subject to Beulah's life estate would have been a vested interest
as the conveyance was written, but that vested interest is wiped out by the Doctrine of Worthier Title. Imagine then that Adam then falls on hard times, and his creditor
s take judgments against him. If the deed were given effect as written, Caleb and Dinah's vested rights to the remainder interest would have existed prior to any judgment lien
s, and would therefore be prior in right to the claims of Adam's creditors. The Doctrine of Worthier Title, preferring title by intestate succession over title by the instrument, wipes out that vested interest and prefers the rights of Adam's creditors over the rights of Adam's heirs. This illustrates that although the Doctrine of Worthier Title, by its terms, does not affect the right passed from the ancestor to the heir, it can operate to cut off rights of the heirs against third parties.
But Adam does have a will: it leaves his land "to Beulah for life, then to Adam's heirs." Adam's will also contains a residuary clause that leaves the remainder of Adam's estate to Caleb. By the operation of the instrument, Beulah would have a life estate, then "Adam's heirs" i.e. Dinah would have a vested remainder interest. The Doctrine of Worthier Title intervenes, however, with unexpected results. The Doctrine prefers the interest "Adam's heirs" would have taken to the interest created by an instrument. Here, however, Adam's will designates Caleb as his heir at law. Instead of a life estate in Beulah, followed by a vested remainder in Dinah, the Doctrine of Worthier Title operates to disinherit Dinah, treats the interest of the heirs as a mere reversion
, and gives the property to Caleb instead.
or by judicial decisions, in many common law jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, the rule survives, but only as a presumption
or a rule of construction, that can be rebutted by evidence that the grantor meant otherwise.
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the doctrine of worthier title was a legal doctrine that preferred taking title to real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
by descent
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
over taking title by devise
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
or by purchase. It essentially provides that a remainder
Remainder (law)
A remainder in property law is a future interest given to a person that is capable of becoming possessory upon the natural end of a prior estate created by the same instrument...
cannot be created in the grantor's heirs, at least not by those words.
The rule provided that where a testator undertook to convey an heir the same estate in land that the heir would take under the laws of inheritance, the heir would be adjudged to have taken title to the land by inheritance rather than by the conveyance, because descent through the bloodline was held to be "worthier" than a conveyance through a legal instrument.
History of the doctrine
The doctrine of worthier title, like the Rule in Shelley's CaseRule in Shelley's Case
The Rule in Shelley's Case is a rule of law that may apply to certain future interests in real property and trusts created in common law jurisdictions...
, had its origin in attempts by royal courts to avoid various devices contrived by lawyers during the era of feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
to retain lands in their families while avoiding feudal duties, and to secure its free alienability. The creation of family settlements designed to preserve land within the family, transfer it without feudal duties due to the lord
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
s of the fee upon transfer at death, and preserve it from claims of creditors, occupied the ingenuity of many common lawyers during the late Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. So did efforts to undo the restrictions placed by ancestors once they became inconvenient. These concerns underlie the explanation given in Coke on Littleton
Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...
:
- But if a man makes a gift in tail, or a lease of life, the remainder to his right heirs, this remainder is void, and he hath the revision in him; for the ancestor during his life beareth in his body in judgment of law all his heirs, and therefore it is truly said that haeres est pars antecessoris. ("the heir is a part of the ancestor") And this appeareth in a common case, that if land be given to a man and his heirs, all his heirs are so totally in him as he may give the land to whom he will.
The law deemed that since no one is an "heir" until the person he or she inherits from dies, an attempt to create a remainder interest in the heir created no present interest at all. This interpretation draws strength by analogy from the common words of a conveyance in fee simple
Fee simple
In English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...
, "to N. and his heirs." This conveyance creates no present interest in any heir; why should a remainder do the same?
Why it makes a difference
But if the heir receives the same interest in the property that he would have received either way, the Doctrine of Worthier Title would appear at first impression to be a distinction without a difference.The rule divests heirs of interests they seem to have under instruments
The rule makes a difference when property owners make inter vivosInter vivos
Inter vivos is a legal term referring to a transfer or gift made during one's lifetime, as opposed to a testamentary transfer ....
gift
Gift
A gift or a present is the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free. In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc. may contribute to...
s of less than fee simple
Fee simple
In English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...
interests. Suppose Adam owns title to lands, and executes a deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
"to Beulah for life, and then to Adam's heirs," Caleb and Dinah. Adam's intent in these words of conveyance would appear to be to grant Beulah a life estate
Life estate
A life estate is a concept used in common law and statutory law to designate the ownership of land for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms it is an estate in real property that ends at death when there is a "reversion" to the original owner...
, and then create a vested remainder
Remainder
In arithmetic, the remainder is the amount "left over" after the division of two integers which cannot be expressed with an integer quotient....
interest in his apparent heirs Caleb and Dinah. The remainder interest is vested because Beulah is mortal; her death is certain to happen. But, since Caleb and Dinah are already Adam's apparent heirs, their interest under the laws of descent is "worthier" than the interest they take under the instrument, and the deed is construed as if Adam had stopped with "to Beulah for life." This doctrine is further complicated by the fact that although Caleb and Dinah are Adam's heirs apparent, it is legally impossible to determine who is an heir until the death of the grantor.
The remainder interest Caleb and Dinah were meant to have in the land subject to Beulah's life estate would have been a vested interest
Vesting
In law, vesting is to give an immediately secured right of present or future enjoyment. One has a vested right to an asset that cannot be taken away by any third party, even though one may not yet possess the asset. When the right, interest or title to the present or future possession of a legal...
as the conveyance was written, but that vested interest is wiped out by the Doctrine of Worthier Title. Imagine then that Adam then falls on hard times, and his creditor
Creditor
A creditor is a party that has a claim to the services of a second party. It is a person or institution to whom money is owed. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption that the second party will return an equivalent property or...
s take judgments against him. If the deed were given effect as written, Caleb and Dinah's vested rights to the remainder interest would have existed prior to any judgment lien
Lien
In law, a lien is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation...
s, and would therefore be prior in right to the claims of Adam's creditors. The Doctrine of Worthier Title, preferring title by intestate succession over title by the instrument, wipes out that vested interest and prefers the rights of Adam's creditors over the rights of Adam's heirs. This illustrates that although the Doctrine of Worthier Title, by its terms, does not affect the right passed from the ancestor to the heir, it can operate to cut off rights of the heirs against third parties.
It makes a difference who your heirs are
The Doctrine of Worthier Title can also affect estates created by will, when those estates are in people who would not take by intestate succession. Suppose once more that Adam is a testator whose good friends in life were Beulah and Caleb; Adam's child is Dinah. Under applicable state laws of intestate succession, Dinah would be Adam's heir if Adam had no will.But Adam does have a will: it leaves his land "to Beulah for life, then to Adam's heirs." Adam's will also contains a residuary clause that leaves the remainder of Adam's estate to Caleb. By the operation of the instrument, Beulah would have a life estate, then "Adam's heirs" i.e. Dinah would have a vested remainder interest. The Doctrine of Worthier Title intervenes, however, with unexpected results. The Doctrine prefers the interest "Adam's heirs" would have taken to the interest created by an instrument. Here, however, Adam's will designates Caleb as his heir at law. Instead of a life estate in Beulah, followed by a vested remainder in Dinah, the Doctrine of Worthier Title operates to disinherit Dinah, treats the interest of the heirs as a mere reversion
Reversion
Reversion may refer to:*Reversion *Reversion *Reversion *Reversion *Series reversion, in mathematics*Reversion, in evolutionary biology...
, and gives the property to Caleb instead.
Obsolescence of the doctrine
The Doctrine of Worthier Title can be avoided by naming specific people or classes of people e.g. "my children" instead of using the phrase "my heirs". As such, the Doctrine of Worthier Title seldom comes into play. The doctrine has also been abolished, either by statuteStatute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
or by judicial decisions, in many common law jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, the rule survives, but only as a presumption
Presumption
In the law of evidence, a presumption of a particular fact can be made without the aid of proof in some situations. The types of presumption includes a rebuttable discretionary presumption, a rebuttable mandatory presumption, and an irrebuttable or conclusive presumption. The invocation of a...
or a rule of construction, that can be rebutted by evidence that the grantor meant otherwise.