Title

Estates.

The means whereby the owner of lands hath the just possession of his property.

Co. Litt. 345; 2 Bla. Com. 195. See Courcier v. Graham, 1 Ohio 349.

This is the definition of title to lands only. ' A bad title is one which conveys no property to the purchaser of an estate. A doubtful title is one which the court does not consider to be so clear that it will enforce its acceptance by a purchaser, nor so defective as to declare it a bad title, but only subject to so much doubt that a purchaser ought not to be compelled to accept it; 1 J. & W. 568; SSebring v. Mersereau, 9 Cow. (N. Y.) 344. A good title is that which entitles a man by right to a property or estate, and to the lawful possession of the same. A marketable title is one which a court of equity considers to be so clear that it will enforce its acceptance by a purchaser. The doctrine of marketable titles is purely equitable and of modern origin; Atk. Tit. 26. At law every title not bad is marketable; 5 Taunt. 625; 6 id.

263.

There are several stages or degrees requisite to form a complete title to lands and tenements. The lowest and most imperfect degree of title is a presumptive title or the mere possession, or actual occupation of the estate, without any apparent right to hold or continue such possession: this happens when one man disseises another. The next step to a good and perfect title is the right of possession, which may reside in one man while the actual possession is not in himself, but in another. This right of possession is of two sorts: an apparent right of possession, which may be defeated by proving a better, and an actual right of possession, which will stand the test against all opponents. The without either possession or the right of pos session.

2 Bla. Com. 195.

Title to real estate is acquired by two methods, namely, by descent and by purchase; also under the statute of limitations; Montoya v. Gonzales, 232 U. S. 375, 34 Sup. Ct. 413, 58 L. Ed.. Prescription, in the Roman law, gave the possessor a perfect title. The statute of limitations provides, not that the adverse possessor shall acquire title, but that one who neglects for a given time to assert his right shall not thereafter enforce it. Still, as in the Roman law, title is gained by prescription.

James Barr Ames, Lect. on Leg. Hist. 197, 3 Sel. Essays in Anglo-Amer.

L. Hist. 567, where he notes a contrary view held by Prof. Langdell in Summary of Eq. PI. § 122. See Adverse Possession; Land Title and Transfer. Proceedings by the United States against a corporation for the condemnation of land, in which the state of the title and pending litigation as to it is set up in the pleadings, is not a concession that title is in such corporation; U. S. v. Water Power Co., 229 U. S. 53, 33 Sup. Ct. 667, 57 L. Ed. 1063. Title to personal property may accrue in three different ways: by original acquisition; by transfer by act of law; by transfer' by art of the parties. Title by original acquisition is acquired by occupancy, see Occupancy; by accession, see Accession; by intellectual labor, see Patent; Copyright; Trade-Mark. The title to personal property is acquired and lost by transfer by act of law, in various ways: by forfeiture; succession; marriage; judgment; insolvency; intestacy. Title is acquired and lost by the act of the party, by gift, by contract or sale. In general, possession constitutes the criterion of title of personal property ( q. v.) t because no other means exist by which a knowledge of the fact to whom it belongs can be attained. A seller of 'a chattel is not, therefore, required to show the origin of his title, nor, in general, is a purchaser, without notice of the claim of the owner, compellable to make restitution; but it seems that a purchaser from a tenant for life of personal chattels will not be secure against the claims of those entitled in remainder; Cowp. 432; 1 Bro. C. C. 274. Ordinarily possession of personal property constitutes the indicia of title thereto. It is, however, at best but prima facie evidence of ownership; Miller Piano Co. v. Parker, 135 Pa. 208, 26 Atl. 303, 35 Am. St Rep. 873. One who is not the owner cannot in genera] pass the title. The chief exception is under the doctrine of market overt, which see. There are exceptions also in cases where one in possession has evidences of title which enable him to commit a fraud on a third party, in which cases the law may protect the ey or negotiable securities may pass title to them. See Sales; Fraudulent Conveyances; Possession; Market Overt; Marketable Title; Finder; Vessel; F. O. B. As an exception to the rule that possession is the criterion of title of property may be mentioned the case of ships, the title of which can be ascertained by the register; 15 Ves. Ch. 60; 8 Price 256. In Legislation. That part of an act of the legislature by which it is known and distinguished from other acts; the name of the act. While the title of a statute cannot be used to add to or take from the body thereof, yet in cases of doubt, it may be referred to as a help to the interpretation; Church of Holy Trinity v. U. S., 143 U. S. 457, 12 Sup. Ct. 511, 36 L. Ed. 22G. See Construction. Formerly the title was held to be no part of a bill, though it could be looked to when the statute was ambiguous; Patterson v. The Eudora, 190 U. S. 169, 23 Sup. Ct. 821, 47 L. Ed. 1002; Cornell v. Coyne, 192 U. S. 418, 24 Sup. Ct. 383, 48 L. Ed. 504; Smith v. Scott, 31 Wis. 431; but it could not enlarge or restrain the provisions of the act itself; Hadden v. The Collector, 5 Wall. (U. S.) 107, 18 L. Ed. 518. In later years constitutional provisions have required that the title of every legislative act shall correctly indicate the subject-matter of the act; Cooley, Const. Lim. 172. The object of this was mainly to prevent surprise in legislation. An act must have but one general object, which is fairly indicated by the title; a title may be general if it does not cover incongruous legislation; Endl. Interp. Stat. 59; Indiana C. Ry. Co. v. Potts, 7 Ind. 681; People v. Briggs, 50 N. Y. 553; the use of the words “other purposes” have no effect; Town of Fishkill v. Road Co., 22 Barb. (N. Y.) 642; Board of County Corn’rs v. Smelting Co., 3 Colo. App. 223, 32 Pac. 717. It is said that the courts will construe these provisions liberally rather than embarrass legislation by a construction, the strictness of which is unnecessary to the attainment of the beneficial purposes for which they were adopted; Cooley, Const. Lim. 178. In construing an act, the court will strike from it all that relates to the object not indicated by the title, and sustain the rest if it is complete in itself; id.

181; Ex parte Cowert, 92 Ala. 94, 9 South. 225.

These provisions are usually considered mandatory, though they were held to be directory in Washington v. Page, 4 Cal. 388. In Pennsylvania, where an act of assembly is entitled a supplement to a former act, and the subject thereof is germane to that of the original act, its subject is sufficiently expressed; State Line & J. R. Co.’s Appeal, 77 Pa. 429. Where the constitution requires that the subject of every act shall be clearly expressed ment and approval, the act is invalid; Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Smyth, 103 Fed. 376. The inclusion in a statute of a section foreign to the subject of the act and not mentioned in the title does not invalidate the remainder of the act, though it may itself be void; Southern Pac. Co. v. Bartine, 170 Fed. 725. In England the title was formerly held to be no part of a statute, but was commonly framed by the clerk after the bill had passed; Eby’s Appeal, 70 Pa. 314, per Sharswood, J. It is now held to be a part of a statute; [1899] 1 Ch. 3.

Personal Relations

A distinctive appellation denoting the rank to which the individual belongs in society. See Rank; Nobility. Titles are assumed by foreign princes, and among their subjects they may exact these marks of honor; but in their intercourse with foreign nations they are not entitled to them as a matter of right; Wheat Int. Law, 3d Eng. ed. § 159. In Pleading. The right of action which the plaintiff has. The declaration must show the plaintiff's title, and if such title be not shown in that instrument the defect cannot be cured by any of the future pleadings.

Bacon, Abr. Pleas, etc. (B 1).

In Rights. The name of a newspaper, a book, and the like.

See Trade-Mark.