In law, a moiety title is the ownership of part of a property. The word derives from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th modern French), from Latin ''medietas'' ("middle"), from ''medius''. In French language">modern French), from Latin ''medietas'' ("middle"), from ''medius''. In English law, it relates to parsing aspects of ownership and liability in all forms of property. In the Australian system of land title, it typically applies to maisonettes or attached cottage">Apartment#Maisonette">maisonettes or attached cottages whereby the owner owns a share of the total land on the title and leases a certain portion of the land back for themselves from the other owner(s). Some finance institutions do not offer loans for properties on moiety titles as security.

Real estate

Moiety is a Middle English word for one of two equal parts under the

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring socie ...

. Thus on the death of a English feudal barony">feudal baron A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely be ...

or lord of the manor without a male heir (the eldest of whom would inherit all his estates by the custom of male primogeniture) but with daughters as heiresses, a ''moiety'' of his fiefdom would generally pass to each daughter, to be held by her husband. This would involve the division of the barony, generally consisting of several manors, into two or more groups of manors, which division would presumably be effected by negotiation between the parties concerned. Such was the case in the barony of Newmarch, the '' caput'' or chief manor of which was at North Cadbury, Somerset, when James de Newmarch died in 1216; had no son but left two co-heiresses, Isabel and Hawise, who being heirs of a tenant-in-chief became wards of the king. Certain freehold and

copyhold Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the ...

hereditaments and

leasehold A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a Lease, lessee or a tenant has rights of real property by some form of title (property), title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold right ...

tenements of Henry Belward Ray were left in his will to infants with whom he – (the

testator A testator () is a person who has written and executed a last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death. It is any "person who makes a will."Gordon Brown, ''Administration of Wills, Trusts, and Estates'', 3d ed. (2003), p. ...

) – had no blood relation. To ensure that Ray's land would not escheat to

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

, in March 1860, his trustees presented a petition to the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain to create an Act of Parliament which would legally allow Arthur Lupton of Potternewton Lodge undivided moiety, i.e. the rights of a

mesne lord A mesne lord () was a lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord. Owing to ''Quia Emptores'', the concept of a mesne lordship technically still exists today: the partitionin ...

of the manor of Potternewton, and not the exclusive ownership of a lord paramount.

Offices of state

Not only landholdings but also the holding of offices of state could devolve by moiety. In the Royal Court of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, one moiety of the ancient office of Lord Great Chamberlain is a hereditary office of the Cholmondeley family. This hereditary office came into the Cholmondeley family through the marriage of the first Marquess of Cholmondeley to Lady Georgiana Charlotte Bertie, daughter of Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven. Portcullis

Deed of Covenant and Agreement between Lord Willoughby de Eresby, The Dowager Marchioness of Cholmondeley and the Marquis of Cholmondeley re the exercise of the Office of Hereditary Great Chamberlain (16 May 1829)
. The second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh holders of the marquessate have all held this office.

Notes

References

*Blackstone, William (2004)
''Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England''
London: The Lawbook Exchange. , . * East, Edward Hyde (1845)
''Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of King's Bench: With Tables of the Names of the Cases and Principal Matters''
Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard.

External links

{{wiktionary, moiety English property law

Real estate

Offices of state

See also

Notes

References

External links