Legal Definitions - suffering a recovery

Suffering a recovery refers to a historical legal procedure, primarily used in English property law, where a landowner would deliberately allow a fictitious lawsuit to be brought against them by another party. The purpose of this pre-arranged "recovery" was to obtain a court judgment that would formally transfer ownership of land, often to bypass complex restrictions on property transfer, such as those imposed by an 'entail' (a legal device that restricted the inheritance of land to a specific line of descendants).

In essence, the landowner (the "conveyor") would "suffer" or permit a fake legal action to proceed, allowing the person they wished to transfer the land to (the "conveyee") to "recover" the land through a court judgment. This elaborate legal fiction provided a way to achieve land transfers that might otherwise have been impossible under the rigid property laws of the time.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Breaking an Entail for Sale: Imagine a wealthy family in the 18th century, the Montagues, owned a large estate that was 'entailed' to their eldest son and his male heirs. This meant the current Lord Montague could not sell or mortgage the land freely, as it was legally bound to future generations. If Lord Montague wished to sell a portion of the estate to pay off debts or fund a new venture, he could arrange for a trusted associate, Mr. Thompson, to initiate a fictitious lawsuit claiming ownership of that specific parcel of land.

  Lord Montague would then "suffer a recovery" by not defending the suit, allowing Mr. Thompson to obtain a court judgment "recovering" the land. This judgment effectively broke the entail on that portion, allowing Mr. Thompson (who was acting on Lord Montague's behalf) to then convey the land to a genuine buyer, thus achieving the sale that would otherwise have been legally impossible.

• Transferring Land to a Trust: Consider Lady Eleanor, who wanted to establish a charitable trust for her local community in the 17th century. She wished to endow the trust with a piece of her family's land, but the land was subject to an old entail that prevented her from simply donating it. To overcome this, Lady Eleanor could collaborate with the appointed trustee, Mr. Davies, to initiate a "suffering a recovery" process.

  Mr. Davies would bring a fictitious claim against Lady Eleanor for ownership of the land intended for the trust. Lady Eleanor would "suffer a recovery" by allowing the court to issue a judgment in favor of Mr. Davies. This legal maneuver effectively transferred the land to Mr. Davies, who then held it as trustee for the charity, bypassing the restrictions of the entail.

• Consolidating Fragmented Ownership: Over generations, a family's ancestral lands might become fragmented due to various entails and inheritance patterns, making it difficult to manage or develop the estate as a whole. The current head of the family, Mr. Arthur Sterling, wanted to consolidate all these fragmented portions under a single, clear title to facilitate modern farming practices.

  Mr. Sterling could arrange for a trusted solicitor, Ms. Finch, to bring a series of fictitious lawsuits against the various family members who held different entailed portions of the land. Each family member would "suffer a recovery" by allowing Ms. Finch to obtain a judgment for their respective portions. Once Ms. Finch had "recovered" all the land through these judgments, she could then convey the entire consolidated estate back to Mr. Sterling under a new, unencumbered title, effectively clearing the old, complex ownership structures.