Simple English definitions for legal terms
Read a random definition: proavus
A recoveror is a person who wins a court case called a common recovery. In the past, a common recovery was a complicated legal process used to transfer land from one person to another. It involved pretending that someone else owned the land and then suing them to get it back. The recoveror was the person who won the case and got the land. Common recoveries were used to get around laws that restricted the transfer of land, but they were abolished in the 19th century.
Definition: The recoveror is the demandant who obtains a judgment in a common recovery. A common recovery is an old legal proceeding that allowed a tenant in tail to disentail a fee-tail estate. It was a complicated process full of legal fictions that facilitated land transfer by allowing a potential transferee who was barred by law from receiving land to "recover" the land by suing the actual owner. The common recoveries were abolished in the early 19th century.
Example: In a common recovery, B would bring a real action against A, claiming falsely that he owned the land and demanding recovery of it. A would respond by claiming, just as falsely, that he had acquired the land from C and that C had warranted title to the land. When A demanded that C defend the title, C admitted falsely that he had warranted the title. C allowed B to take a default judgment against A for the recovery of the land, and allowed A to obtain a default judgment against himself, C, for the recovery of land of equal value. The result of this fancy feudal footwork was to leave B with title to the land in fee simple and to leave A with his judgment against C.
Explanation: The example illustrates how a common recovery worked. It was a complicated process that involved collusion between the parties to transfer land from one person to another. The recoveror was the person who obtained a judgment in the common recovery, which allowed them to take title to the land in fee simple.