Sec. 11. Conveyance of the legal estate, p. 17.

Sec. 12. Forfeiture on breach of condition, p. 18.

Sec. 13. Possession of land and title deeds, p. 19.

Sec. 14. Accretions and fixtures, p. 20.

Sec. 15. Capacity to make a legal mortgage, p. 24.

Sec. 16. Capacity of married woman, p. 25.

Sec. 17. Capacity of trustee or personal representative, p. 27.

Sec. 18 Consideration, p. 33.

Sec. 11. Conveyance of the legal estate

By the end of the fifteenth century the position of a mortgagee of land had become definitely fixed. He took an estate defeasable upon condition subsequent (a). The essential form of a mortgage at law became stereotyped, and to this day a legal mortgage retains the form of a conveyance of land subject to a proviso for defeasance or for reconveyance on payment (b), although the tendency of modern legislation is to create charges rather than mortgages strictly so called (c).

A conveyance of the legal estate to the mortgagee is an essential feature of a legal mortgage (d), and by virtue of the conveyance the mortgage, even before entry, is seised of the land (e).

(a) See chapter 1, Introductory, Sec. 1.

(b) See definition of mortgage in Sec. 4. In Ontario a mortgage ordinarily contains a proviso for defeasance, but in England a proviso for reconveyance is usual. See 21 Halsbury, Laws of England, P. 121.

(c) See chapter 10, The Land Titles Acts, Sec. 93.

(d) As to mortgages in the form of absolute conveyances, see chapter 3, Legal Mortgage in Equity, Sec. 27; and as to mortgages which by reason either of their form or of their subject matter do not convey the legal estate, see chapter 5, Equitable Mortgages.