perfect title

Titles which were perfect before the cession of the Territory to the United States, continued so afterwards, and were in nowise affected by the change of sovereignty. Perfect titles are as valid under the new government as they were under its predecessor.

A title which Is good both at law and in equity. 21 Conn. 449. See "Merchantable Title."

Various meanings have been attached to this term: (1) One which shows the absolute right of possession and of property in a particular person. Henderson v. Beatty, 124 Iowa, 163, 99 N. W. 716; Converse v. Kellogg, 7 Barb. (N. Y.) 590; Wilcox Lumber Co. v. Bullock, 109 Ga. 532, 35 S. E. 52; Donovan v. Pitcher, 53 Ala. 411, 25 Am. Rep. 634. (2) A grant of land which requires no further act from the legal authority to constitute an absolute title to the land taking effect at once. Hancock v. McKinney, 7 Tex. 457. (3) A title which does not disclose a patent defect suggesting the possibility of a lawsuit to defend it; a title such as a well-informed and prudent man paying full value for the property would be willing to take. Birge v. Bock, 44 Mo. App. 77.
(4) A title which is good both at law and in equity. Warner v. Middlesex Mut. Assur. Co., 21 Conn. 449.
(5) One which is good and valid beyond all reasonable doubt. Sheehy v. Miles, 93 Cal. 2S8, 28 Pac. 1046; Reynolds v. Borel, 86 Cal. 538, 25 Pac. 67.
(6) A marketable or merchantable title. Ross v. Smiley, 18 Co.lo. App. 204, 70 Pac. 766 ; McCleary v. Chipman, 32 Ind App. 489, 68 N E. 320.

Defined under Title in Black's Law Dictionary.