DOCTRINE OF ESTATE-ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

 

Doctrine of Estates is an old English rule that a person cannot own land, but can merely own an estate in it, authorizing the person to hold it for some period of time. It originated during the Norman conquest of England in 1066 when the feudal system of landholding was introduced. In this system land was held from a lord for a period of time in return for certain services and other charges or ‘incidents of tenure’. The period of time for which land is held is an estate. The doctrine of estates is still important, but the number of estates which can exist at common law was reduced by the Law of Property Act 1925.

To understand fully the meaning of the word estate, it will be worthwhile to discuss, how , what is called the doctrine of estate, developed in England.

Formerly, the money was in the little use for exchange purposes and the product from the land was the main item of wealth and exchange for the necessities of life . hence, the possession of land was coveted by people . In feudal times in England, al the land was supposed to belong to the King and the King distributed the land to nobles and persons in exchange of services to be rendered by these people. The land was not given away outright, but these persons were to hold the land in exchange for the services. The ownership remained with the King.

The latin word for holding is teneo (I hold) an from this originated the word tenure. The person holding was called the tenant and the person giving the land was called the land, By passage of time , the following two broad types of tenures developed :

• Free tenure
• Unfree tenure

 Free tenure: The holder of the free tenure i.e a free tenant could not be dispossessed of the land at any time by the will or order of the lord; and in court of law, his right of holding will we upheld. The freeholder could not transferor alienate (the process of transfer is known as alienation) the land to other person legally. He could give the land to other person in exchange of services to be rendered to him, if he so desired . the receiving person may again give land to other person exchange of services and this process was known as the subinfeudation. Thus, a freehold tenant could transfer the land by subinfeudation or it will pass to his her on his death. Later in , this process of subinfeudation was prohibited as trace of the tenant could not be kept. Instead of subinfeudation , the transfer by substitution was allowed i.e suppose A substituted B in his place a tenant B was responsible for rendering services to the original lord.

Unfree tenure: The holder of unfree tenure i.e unfree tenant was also called villuien tenant. He could be evicted at any time at the will or order of the lord as he was a servant of the lord. The villuien tenant could transfer the land by paying a fine (not a punishment but as a token of transfer).The entry of change of tenant was kept in the court rolls and a copy of the entry was given to the new tenant who was said to hold the land by the copy and was called a copy holder. Thus, the copy hold tenure was an unfree tenure.

The tenant in either tenure did not own the land copyright. He held only an interest in it for a probable duration. The probable duration of interest of tenants termed state and this development is known as the doctrine of state.