RELEASE. "Releases are in divers manners, namely : releases of all the right which a man hath in lands or tenements ; and releases of actions personals and seals, and other things." (Litt. § 444.) The former kind of release may be considered as a species of con veyance, and the instrument of release must be a deed. The operative words of release are remise, release, renounce, and for ever quit claim (an abbreviation or corruption of quietum clamasse). According to Littleton (§ 508) a release to a man of all demands is the best release that can be made, " and shall enure most to his advantage ; " but Coke remarks that "claims " is a word of still more extensive import. The parties to a release are the releaser and releasee : the releaser is he who quits or renounces that which he has; the releasee is he who acquires what the other gives up, but he cannot acquire anything by the release, unless he has some estate in or right to the thing which is the object of the release.
Releases are either of an estate in land or of a right to land ; or they are releases of things personal. Releases of estates in or rights to land require to be considered separately.
In order that a release of an estate in land may have its intended effect, there must be privity of estate between the releaser and releasee ; that is, the estates of the releaser and releasee must have been acquired by the same conveyance or title, or the one estate must have been derived immediately out of the other. There must be this privity whenever the release of an estate operates either by way of enlarging the estate of the releasee, or by way of passing to him the estate of the releaser.
It is not in all cases necessary that the person to whom the release is niade should be in the actual possession of the land or that he should have the estate immediately preceding that of the releaser. If land be given by C, who is tenant in fee simple, to A for years, remainder to B for life, C may release his reversion either to A or to B: in the former case A will acquire the reversion expectant on B's life estate ; and in the latter case B's remainder will merge in the reversion, which will become an estate in possession on the determination of A's estate.
This is commonly called a release which enlarges an estate ; but in the case supposed, if the release is made to A, his estate is not thereby enlarged, and the effect is just the same as if C made him a grant of the reversion. The rule of law is undoubtedly true that " whenever a release cloth enure by way of enlarging an estate, there must be privity of estate, as between lessor and lessee, donor and donee" (Co. Litt., 273, a); but there must also he privity, as in the case supposed, when no enlargement of the estate is made by the release. If C, tenant in fee simple, had originally granted the estate to B for life, and B had made a lease for years to A, a release of the reversion in fee from C to A would have no effect as a release, because there is no privity of estate, as above defined, between A and C. Such a release may, how ever, operate as a grant of the reversion, if there are sufficient words for that purpose. When lands are in possession of a lessee at will, for years, or for life, or of an assignee of such lessee, the lessor may release either to the lessee himself, or to his assignee. But a release by the original lessor to an under-lessee, as above stated, will not operate as a release.
In order that the release may operate to the enlargement of the estate of the releasee, it must contain proper words. Therefore if be who has the fee in reversion or remainder intends to release his'estate to a tenant for years or for life, he must release to such tenant and his heirs. If he simply release to the tenant for life, the releasee will have no greater estate than he had before; and if he simply release to the tenant for years, the tenant acquires the estate only for life. (Litt., 468.) If a lease is made, at common law, of lands in possession, the lessee has no estate till he enters, and therefore can accept no release from the lessor ; buts release from the lessor to the lessee before entry of all his right in the land, extinguishes the rent.