Mortmain

Mortmain, so called by resemblance to a man in his last moments, who holds whatever he takes in his hand mortuo manu, that is, so fast that he never quits it until he is dead. Plowden 193. A term applied to denote the possession of lands or tenements by any corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal. These purchases having been chiefly made by religious houses, in consequence of which lands became perpetually inherent in one dead hand, this has occasioned the general appellation of "mortmain" to be applied to such alienations. 2 Bl. Comm. 268; Co. Litt. 2b; Ersk. Inst. 2. 4. 10; Barr. Obs. St. 27, 97. See Story, Eq. Jur. § 1137; Shelf. Mortm.

A term applied to denote the possession of lands or tenements by any corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal. These purchases having been chiefly made by religious houses, in consequence of which lands became perpetually inherent in one dead hand, this has occasioned the general appellation of mortmain to be applied to such alienations. 2 Bla. Com. 268; Co. Litt. 2 b; Barrington, Stat. 27, 97. See Story, Eq. Jur. 13th ed. § 1137 n. (4); Shelf. Mortm. In England the common-law right of every corporation to take and hold lands and tenements has been restrained by the statutes of mortmain, which subject the power to acquire lands to the discretion of the crown or parliament as to the grant of a license; 8 H. L. C. 712; Mc Donogh v. Murdoch, 16 How. (U. S.) 367, 405, 14 L. Ed. 732. These statutes have not been re-enacted or considered in force in this country except in Pennsylvania, where they are judicially.recgrants to a corporation without a statutory license; Leazure v. Hillegas, 7 S. & R. (Pa.) 313; though the title is good till office found and may be conveyed subject to the right of the state to defeat it; id. See American & Foreign Christian Union v. Yount, 101 U. S. 352, 26 L. Ed. 888. The commonwealth only can object; Goundie v. Water Co., 7 Pa. 233. Ordinarily, a corporation may take and hold such land as may be within the purposes of the charter, whether it acquires it by deed or devise; Clark, Corp. 129. Statutes sometimes restrict the amount that can be taken. Where a limit of value is specified it is ascertained as of the taking; Bogardus v. Rector, etc., of Trinity Church, 4 Sandf. Ch. (N. Y.) 633. In the United States the term mortmain acts is applied to statutes which exist in some states restricting the right of religious corporations to hold land and the power to make conveyances, devises, or bequests to religious societies or charitable uses. Such statutes are aimed at the same mischief which gave rise to the English statutes of mortmain, and either avoid the deed or will, quoad hoc, altogether, or when without valuable consideration, or when the /real estate is above a specified valuation, or if made within a specified time before the death of the grantor or testator. See Stims. Am. Stat. L. §§ 403, 1446, 2618. In England, by the Mortmain Act of 1736, 9 Geo. II. c. 36, the power of devising land by Will to charitable purposes was absolutely destroyed; 6 Ch. D. 214. This act and various amending acts were repealed by the act of 1888, but practically the then existing law was re-enacted; Whitehead, Church Law 174. The act of 1888 Is tn effect a codification of the law on the subject; 6 L. Quart. Rev. 387. It is in four distinct parts; I. Assurances in mortmain are void and the land liable to forfeiture, if made otherwise than under authority of a statute or of a license from the queen, who is empowered to grant it. II. Assurances for charitable uses are treated substantially on the basis of the statute 9 Qeo. II., and charitable objects are enumerated in the language of the statute 43 Ellz. c. 4; they must take effect immediately, without any power of revocation, reservation, etc., except as to a nominal rent, mines and minerals, or easements, building contract, or the like; or, in case of hona fide sale, of a rent charge or annual payment to the vendor; they can never be made by will, but only by deed made with prescribed formalities. III. Exemptions are made of specified quantities of land for parks, museums, and scboolhouses, which may be made by will; also land for the two universities and other named colleges is excepted from the provlsiotis in the second part of the act. IV. Scotland and Ireland are excluded, and existing charters, etc., are saved. By the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act of 1891, land may be assured by will to or tor the benefit of any charitable use, but such land shall, notwithstanding anything in the will contained to the contrary, be sold within one year from the death of the testator unless the time is extended by the high court, or a Judge at chambers, or the charity commissioners, who have power to sanction the it7. Land under the mortmain acts, 1888 and 1891, Is defined to include tenements and hereditaments, corporeal or incorporeal, of any tenure, but not any money, secured on land or any personal estate aiislns from or connected with land; 64 ft 55 Vlct. c. 78, { 8. See Bourchler ft Chllcott, Mortmain; Tudor, Charities, etc. (1906 ed.). Statutes of mortmain are local in tbelr application and do not affect wills of persons domiciled in British colonies. A bequest by a testator, domiciled in a colony, of money, to bis trustees for the purchase of land in England for a charitable object, is valid; 7 H. L. Cas. 124. See Whitehead, Church Law 174; Tyssen, Char. Beq. 6G1; 1 Brett, Com. ch. xix,; Chasitable Use.

A term applied to denote the alienation of lands or tenements to any corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal. These purchases having been chiefly made by religious houses, in consequence of which lands became perpetually inherent in one dead hand, this has occasioned the general appellation of "mortmain" to be applied to such alienations. 2 BL Comm. 268; Co. Litt 2b; Perin v. Carey, 24 How. 495, 16 In Ed. 701.

— Mortmain acts. These acts had for their object to prevent lands getting into the possession or control of religious corporations, or, as the name indicates, in mortua manu. After numerous prior acts dating from the reign of Edward I., it was enacted by the statute 9 Geo. II. c. 36, (calied the "Mortmain Act" par excellence,) that no lands should be given to charities unless certain requisites should be observed. Brown. Yates v. Yates, 9 Barb. (N. Y.) 324.

I. fr. A dead hand; a condition of property in which it is held without the power of change or alienation; a term originally

A term applied to denote the alienation of lands or tenements to any corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal. These purchases having been chiefly made by religious houses, in conse quence of which lands became perpetually inherent in one dead hand, this has occasioned the general appellation of “mortmain” to be applied to such alienations. 2 BI. Comm. 268; Co. Litt. 26.

(Dead hand.) A term applied to conveyances to a corporation; particularly a religious corp^oration, when it was held, without possibility of alienation or change, by persons dead in law. Statute of Mortmain: 7 Edw. I.; 9 Geo. II. c. 36.

Dead hand. Lands which have been conveyed to corporations having perpetual succession, so that the lands may remain for ever inalienable, are said to be held in mortmain. Conveyances to religious houses were, in the early legal history of England, found to be contrary to public policy, because, as the corporations did not sell again, the lands of the kingdom were gradually becoming tied up in their ownership and control. This led to statutes restricting conveyances to corporations, known as the mortmain acts. An alienation of lands in mortmain is an alienation of lands or tenements to any corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal. The name is thought to have been derived from the fact that the religious houses, to whom principally in former days alienations in mortmain were made, were composed of persons dead in law. Mozley i-W. Mortmain acts. The statutes whereby the rights of corporations to take lands by grant or devise is abridged. The principal act on the subject now in operation is the Stat. 9 Geo. H. ch. 36, passed in 1735. At the time of the passing of that act no devise of lands to a corporation was good, except for charitable uses. By that statute, no lands or hereditaments or money to be laid out therein may be given or conveyed, charged or incumbered, for any charitable use whatever, unless by deed executed in the presence of two witnesses, twelve calendar months before the death of the donor, and enrolled in chancery within six calendar months of its execution, nor unless such gift be made to take effect immediately, and be without power of revocation. Gifts to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and their colleges, or in trust for the scholars on the foundations of Eton, Winchester, and Westminster, are excepted from the operation of the act; so are bona fide purchases for valuable consideration paid down. Various other exceptions have been

is an alienation of lands or tenements to any corporation, sole or aggregate, ecclesiastical or temporal. ‘These purchases having been chiefly made by religious houses, in consequence of which lands became perpetually inherent in one dead hand, this has occasioned the general appellation of mortmain to be applied to such alienations. 2 Bl. Com. 268; Co. Litt. 2 b; Ersk. Inst. B. 2, t. 4, s. 10.