Real Property
This chapter is concerned with the history of settlements of land, the means whereby landowners could control the devolution of their real property in the future. The fee tail seemed at first to allow land to be tied to a family so long as it lasted, but means were found of ‘barring the entail’ by common recovery or final concord. Much confusion was caused by the operation of the Statutes of Uses and Wills on future interests, but the principal outcomes were the ‘executory interest’ and the legal power. Equitable interests also resurfaced in the form of trusts. Conveyancers sought to use the new statutory magic to create perpetuities, but eventually the courts struck down perpetuity clauses as contrary to public policy. The resulting doctrines were utilized to fashion the strict settlement, employed in most landed families for three centuries; its workings are here described.