Chapter the twelfth.
Of ESTATES in SEVERALTY, JOINT-TENANCY, COPARCENARY, and COMMON.
WE come now to treat of eſtates, with reſpect to the number and connexions of their owners, the tenants who occupy and hold them. And, conſidered in this view, eſtates of any quantity or length of duration, and whether they be in actual poſſeſſion or expectancy, may be held in four different ways; in ſeveralty, in joint-tenancy, in coparcenary, and in common.
I. He that holds lands or tenements in ſeveralty, or is ſole tenant thereof, is he that holds them in his own right only, without any other perſon being joined or connected with him in point of intereſt, during his eſtate therein. This is the moſt common and uſual way of holding an eſtate; and therefore we may make the ſame obſervations here, that we did upon eſtates in poſſeſſion, as contradiſtinguiſhed from thoſe in expectancy, in the preceding chapter: that there is little or nothing peculiar to be remarked concerning it, ſince all eſtates are ſuppoſed to be of this ſort, unleſs where they are expreſſly declared to be otherwiſe; and that, in laying down general rules and doctrines, we uſually apply them to ſuch eſtates as are held in ſeveralty. I ſhall therefore proceed to conſider the other three ſpecies of eſtates, in which there are always a plurality of tenants.
