Rule in Shelley's Case

Defined in 5 dictionaries — Case Law, Cyclopedic (1922), Ballentine's (1916), Bouvier (1914), Black's (1910)

Definitions from Case Law

From 55 U.S. 488 - Henry Webster v. Peter Cooper · 1852Most cited · 52 citing opinions

That rule is, that when the ancestor, by any gift or conveyance, takes an estate of freehold, and in the same gift or conveyance an estate is limited, either immediately or mediately, to his heirs in fee or in tail, that the words heirs, &c., are words of limitation, and not of purchase.

Show all 3 Supreme Court definitions and how they changed over time 1852–1912

The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922

See "Shelley's Case, Rule In."

Ballentine's Law Dictionary

James A. Ballentine · 1916

See Shelley’s Case.

In any instrument, if a freehold be limited to the ancestor for life, and the inheritance to his heirs, either mediately or immediately, the first taker takes the whole estate; if it be limited to the heirs of a class of persons to take in succession from generation to generation, the limitation to the heirs entitles the ancestors to the whole estate. See 11 Am. St. Rep. 100, note.

Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia

John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914

See Shelley’s Case, Rule in.

Black's Law Dictionary

Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910

When the ancestor, by any gift or conveyance, tak-eth an estate of freehold, and in the same gift or conveyance an estate is limited, either mediately or immediately, to his heirs in fee or in tail, the theirs' are words of limitation of the estate, and not words of purchase. 1 Coke, 104. Intimately connected with the quantity of estate which a tenant may hold in realty is the antique feudal doctrine generally known as the "Rule in Shelley's Case," which is reported by Lord Coke in 1 Coke, 93b, (23 Eliz. in C. B.) This rule was not first laid down or established in that case, but was then simply admitted in argument as a well-founded and settled rule of law, and has always since been quoted as the "Rule in Shelley's Case." Wharton.