Legal Definitions - de recto de rationabili parte

de recto de rationabili parte

This Latin phrase refers to a historical legal procedure, or "writ," that existed in English law. It was a mechanism designed to allow a co-owner of land, specifically a blood relative or a joint heir (known as a coparcener), who held full ownership of the land (referred to as "fee simple"), to legally claim and obtain their fair and rightful portion of that land from another co-owner. Essentially, it was a way to compel the division of inherited property among family members to ensure each received their reasonable share. This writ was eventually abolished in the 19th century.

Here are some examples illustrating how this writ would have applied:

• Imagine two sisters, Eleanor and Margaret, who inherited a large ancestral estate from their father upon his death, holding it jointly in fee simple. While they both legally owned the entire property, they disagreed on how to physically divide the land to reflect their individual shares. Eleanor desired a specific portion that included the family orchard, but Margaret wanted to keep the entire estate undivided or take a different section. In such a situation, Eleanor could have used the writ of de recto de rationabili parte to compel a legal division, ensuring she received her rightful and reasonable share of the inherited land.

• Consider a wealthy landowner who died without a will, leaving his extensive farmlands to his three adult children, John, Sarah, and David, as joint heirs in fee simple. John, being the eldest, took control of the entire property, managing it as if it were solely his, and refused to acknowledge Sarah and David's claims to their individual shares. Sarah and David, as blood relatives and co-owners, could have invoked the de recto de rationabili parte writ to legally force John to divide the land and allocate their respective reasonable portions, ensuring they each received their rightful inheritance.

• In a historical scenario, a family manor and its surrounding lands were inherited by two cousins, Robert and William, in fee simple. They initially shared the property, but over time, disputes arose regarding which specific parts each cousin could develop or use exclusively. Robert felt William was unfairly monopolizing the most fertile fields for his own crops. Robert could have sought the de recto de rationabili parte writ to initiate a legal process that would formally partition the estate, assigning each cousin a clearly defined and reasonable share of the land based on their co-ownership rights.