Legacy of Quia Emptores in United States Law
Although it is a matter of debate whether Quia Emptores was the effective law within the colonies, the effect of the Statute is still present in United States land laws. Without a doubt, the U.S. Constitution, and various state constitutions and legislative acts have made Quia Emptores moribund in fact. But the language of land law still sounds medieval, and takes its concepts from the time of Edward I and before. The following list of words common in U.S. land law are from Norman England (with their modern meaning in the United States):
- Alienation - "a sale"
- Appurtenant - "belonging to"
- Damnum absque injuria - "injury without wrong"
- Demise - "to lease" or "let" premises
- Enfeoff - "to give land to another"
- Estate - "an interest in land"
- Feoffee - "a party to whom a fee is conveyed"
- Feoffment - "physical delivery of possession of land by feoffeor to the feofee"
- Leasehold - "an estate in land held under a lease"
- Livery of seisin - "delivery of possession"
- Mesne - "intervening"; related to the term "mesne conveyance" meaning an intervening conveyance
- Purchase - "voluntary transfer of property"
- Seisin - "possession of a freehold estate"
- Tenant - "one who holds or occupies the land under some kind of right or title"
- Writ of Fieri Facias - "writ of execution on the property of a judgment debtor"
The terms "fee", "fee tail", "fee tail estate", "fee tail tenant", "fee simple" and the like are essentially the same as they were defined in De Donis Conditionalibus in 1285.
There are four kinds of deeds in common usage:
- warranty deed, which contains covenants for title.
- special warranty deed in which the grantor only covenants to warrant and defend the title.
- deed without covenants in which the grantor purports to convey in fee simple
- quitclaim deed in which the grantor makes no covenants for title but grants all rights, title and interest.
The last two are directly related to Quia Emptores. Other changes came after the Statute of Uses, 1535 and the Statute of Frauds.
Read more about this topic: Quia Emptores, United States
Famous quotes containing the words legacy, quia, united, states and/or law:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“A voice I heard—and near I yede—
In great dolour complaining tho:
‘See, dear soul, my sides bleed,
Quia amore langueo.”
—Unknown. Quia Amore Langueo (l. 5–8)
“Hearing, seeing and understanding each other, humanity from one end of the earth to the other now lives simultaneously, omnipresent like a god thanks to its own creative ability. And, thanks to its victory over space and time, it would now be splendidly united for all time, if it were not confused again and again by that fatal delusion which causes humankind to keep on destroying this grandiose unity and to destroy itself with the same resources which gave it power over the elements.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“If the dignity as well as the prestige and influence of the United States are not to be wholly sacrificed, we must protect those who, in foreign ports, display the flag or wear the colors of this Government against insult, brutality, and death, inflicted in resentment of the acts of their Government, and not for any fault of their own.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“The law is only one of several imperfect and more or less external ways of defending what is better in life against what is worse. By itself, the law can never create anything better.... Establishing respect for the law does not automatically ensure a better life for that, after all, is a job for people and not for laws and institutions.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)