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The topic mort d'ancestor is discussed in the following articles:
...known as the assize of novel disseisin. If the land held by a disseisor was claimed by an heir of the original owner in seisin, the heir could bring a similar legal action known as the assize of mort d’ancestor. After the 17th century more expeditious legal actions were developed.
...defined some of the rights of the heir, the lord (or lords), and the widow of a deceased free tenant; its protection of the heir’s right to succeed to land established the possessory action known as mort d’ancestor (i.e., an action to recover lawfully inherited land that had been taken by another before the heir was able to take possession). In line with this, the justices were also...
Examples of ancient writs of assize were those of mort d’ancestor and novel disseizin. The former was an action to recover lawfully inherited land taken by another before the heir was able to take possession; the latter was an action to recover lands of which the plaintiff had been dispossessed.
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