Shifting Use
Defined in 6 dictionaries — Cyclopedic (1922), Ballentine's (1916), Bouvier (1914), Black's (1910), Abbott (1879), Bouvier (1839)
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
Such a use as takes effect in derogation of some other estate, and is limited expressly by the deed, or is allowed to be created by some person named in the deed. Gilb. Uses (Sugden Ed.) 152, note; 2 Washb. Real Prop. 284. For example, a feoffment in fee is made to the use of W. and his heirs till A. pays £40 to W., and then to the use of A. and his heirs. A very common application is in the case of marriage settlements. Williams, Real Prop. 243. The doctrine of shifting uses furnished a means of evading the principle of law that a fee could not be limited after a fee. See 2 Washb. Real Prop. 284 et seq.; Williams, Real Prop. 242; 1 Spence, Eq. Jur. 452; 1 Vern. 402; 1 Edw. Ch. 34; Plowd. 25; Poll. 65. See "Use."
Ballentine's Law Dictionary
James A. Ballentine · 1916
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
Such a use as takes effect in derogation of some other estate, and is limited expressly by the deed or is allowed to be created by some person named in the deed. Gilb. Uses 152, n.; 2 Washb. R. P. 284. For example, a feoffment in fee is made to the use of W and his heirs till A pays £40 to W, and then to the use of A and his heirs. A very common application is in the case of marriage settlements. Wms. R. P., 16th ed. 330. The doctrine of shifting uses furnished a means of evading the principle of law that a fee could not be limited after a fee. See 2 Washb. R. P. 284; Wms. R. P. 330; 1 Spence, Eq. Jur. 452; 1 Vern. 402; 1 Edw. Ch. 34.
Black's Law Dictionary
Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
Dictionary of Terms and Phrases Used in American or English Jurisprudence
Benjamin Vaughan Abbott · 1879
A secondary or executory use, which, when executed, operates in derogation of a preceding estate; as where land is conveyed to the use of A and bis heirs, with proviso that, when B pays a certain sum of money, then to the use of C and his heirs. Wharton.
A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States
John Bouvier · 1839
estates, is one which takes effect in derogation of some other estate, and is either limited by the deed creating it, or authorised to be created by some person named in it. This is sometimes called a secondary use. ‘The following is an example: If an estate be limited to A and his heirs, with a proviso that if B pay to A one hundred dollars by a time named, the use to A shall cease, and the estate go to B in fee; the estate is vested in A subject to the shifting or secondary use in fee in B. Again, if the proviso be that C may revoke the use revocation and limitation of a new use. These shifting uses must be confined within proper limits, so as not to create a perpetuity. 4 Kent, Com. 291; Cornish on Uses, 91.