Smith v. Smith

2 Va. Col. Dec. 297
CourtGeneral Court of Virginia
DecidedOctober 15, 1739
StatusPublished

This text of 2 Va. Col. Dec. 297 (Smith v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering General Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Smith, 2 Va. Col. Dec. 297 (Va. Super. Ct. 1739).

Opinion

Mary Smith seised in fee Mar. 2. 1702. makes a Deed poll in these Words “ For the natural Love & Affection that I bear to my Son Geo. Smith I do make this my Deed of Gift of the sd. 200 A. of Land (the Premes in Question) unto him the s’d Geo. Smith & his Heirs forever after my Decease But it is my true Intent & Meaning to have free Ingress & Egress into all & every Part of the s’d Premes during my natural Life And if it shall happen that the s’d Geo. Smith shall die without Heirs Then I give the s’d Land to my Son John & his Heirs forever ”

G. Smith died with’t Issue in the Life of the Grantor After whose Death she with her 2d Husband Fairfax conveied the Premes in Queon to the Deft. & is since dead The Lessor is Bro’r & Heir of Geo. Smith

The only Question in this Case is Whether any Estate passed to Geo. Smith by this Deed for if any Estate did pass I think it cannot be disputed but that it was a Fee simple And then the Lessor of the Pit. as his Heir has a good Title

The Objection I apprehend will be that the Estate being limited to him after the Death of his Mother is void For that a Freehold can not be limited in pr&senti to commence in futuro It must be agr’d that the Maxim of the Comon Law is A Freehold shall not commence in futuro But since the making of the Statute of Uses the Maxim has in a Manner lost all its Force & Effect for it is universally agreed that the Maxim will not hold upon any Conveiance by Way of Use but only in Conveiances at the Comon Law as we call them It will be therefore necessary to see whether this Deed is to operate as a Conveiance at Com Law or as a Conveiance to Use

[B321]*B321The Distinction between these two kind of Conveiances is well known Conveiances at Com Law are such as were in Use & Practise before the Stat. of Uses 27. H. 8. Conveiances to Use are such as have been introduced since the making of that Statute The different Rules of Construction upon the one & the other of these Conveiances are as [sic\ well known Conv. at Com Law are construed strictly according to the strict & rigid Rules of the Com Law But Conv. to Use are allowed a more liberal Construction They participate in some sort of the Nature of Wills They are construed according to Equity & the just Intention of the Parties The reason of this Difference I shall have Occasion to shew presently 1 Inst. 49. a. 1 Vent. 138. 373. Nel. Sut. 242. Poll. 525. 8 Rep. 93. 3 Lev. 370.

But I will first beg Leave to examine a little the reason of the Maxim just now remember’d viz. That a Freehold shall not commence in futuro It is regularly a Rule of Law that the Freehold shall never be put in Abeiance that is so as not to be existing in some Person And both this Rule & the Maxim we are speaking of are [298] founded upon this reason that there may be always a Tenant to the Precipe I say regularly the Freehold shall not bi in Abeiance because in some Instances Ex necessitate rei it may be so As where an Incumbent dies till the Church is full again &c. Co. Litt. 342. 343.

For the clearer Understanding of this it may be necessary to explain what is meant by Tenant to the Precipe Anciently till within 200 Years or less Where a Man was disseised or had a Title to Lands he had no Remedy to recover the Possession but by a real Action (Ejectments are an Invention of later Times) Now the first Process in real Action is called a Precipe And the Law requires that the Deft, or Person ag’t whom such Precipe is brought sho’d have a Freehold in the Land whence he is called Tenant i.e. Tenant of the Freehold It is obvious then that if the Freehold could be put in Abeiance so as not to be existing in any Person A Man who had a Right to recover the Possession of any Lands could have no Remedy for want of a proper Person ag’t whom to bring his Precipe And this would be the Consequence of it in a Conv. at Com. Law a Freehold might be created in prczsenti to commence in futuro Because in all such Conveiances there is a Transmutation of Possession And no Estate left in the Grantor And therefore as the Freehold would be out of him by the Conveiance if it should be allowed to be [B322]*B322good It must be in Ábeiance that is in nobody till the future Estate commenced

This I take it is the true Reason of the maxim that a Freehold shall not commence in futuro But we shall see presently that this Reason will not hold in Conveiances to Use And that therefore the Maxim cannot at all affect such Conveiances

It will however be necessary in the first Place to shew that the Deed before us ought to be construed as a Conveiance to Use And then I hope I shall have an easie Task to prove that Geo. Smith took a good Estate by way of future Use. These are the 2 Points I shall insist on

As to the 1. The Judges of late Days for more than a century past have laid aside the ancient stiff Adherence to the rigid Rules of the Com. Law in the Constr. of Deeds They have more Regard to the Substance that is the Estate intended to be passed than to the Shadow that is the manner of passing 3 Lev. 371. And therefore if a Deed cannot operate one Way so as to give it the Effect intended they will construe it to operate another Way And this sometimes ag’t the seeming Intention of the Parties as to the manner of Operation They consider the principal Intention that is the Passing of the estate And construe the Deed so as to fulfil that Intention And they will [299] never suffer a Deed to be defeated or to have no Effect if by any Means they can construe it so as to give it the Effect intended Lord Hobart who lived about 100 years ago commends those Judges who are curious & even subtil to invent Reasons & Means to make Deeds effectual according to the just Intention of the Parties Hob. 277. And Sir M. Hale quotes this Passage upon two Occasions as an excellent Rule for Judges to follow 1 Vent. 141. 378.

The Deed before us can operate only 3 ways Either as a Feoffment a Bargain & Sale or a Coven’t to stand seised the first is a Conv. at Comon Law the two latter are Conv. to Use Everybody knows that Livery of Seizin is necessary to a Feoffment And that in Conv. to Use there must be a good Cons, to raise the Use This Deed cannot operate as a Feoffment for want of Livery It cannot operate as a Bargain & Sale for Want of a proper Cons. viz. the Paiment of Mony which is the only good Cons, to raise an Use by Way of Barg. & Sale 1 Vent. 137. If therefore it does not operate as a Coven’t to stand seised it must be absolutely void & can have no Effect at all The Intention of [B323]*B323the Grantor in making it must be entirely defeated And how consistent that will be with the constant Resolutions of ;, the Judges will best appear from the Cases themselves

The first I shall take Notice of is Tebb & Popplewell 2 Ro. Abr. 786. (40. Eliz) A Woman in Cons, of Marriage to be had between her & one F. by Deed inrolled gave granted & confirmed Land to A. & his Heirs with Clause of Warranty but no Livery was made The Deed being inrolled shew’d an Intent it sho’d operate as a Barg. & Sale The Words give & grant & confirm which are proper to Conv. at Com. Law shewed an Intent it sho’d operate as a Feoffment But because it could not operate as the latter for Want of Livery nor as the former for want of a good Cons. viz. Mony Therefore rather than the Deed should be void it was adj’d a good Use did arise to A. by Way of Coven’t to stand seised there being a Cons, proper to raise an Use in such a Conv.

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Bluebook (online)
2 Va. Col. Dec. 297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-smith-vagensess-1739.