DISCLAIMER. A disavowal; a renun ciation : as, for example, the act by which a patentee renounces part of his title of in vention.
Of Estates. The act by which a party refuses to accept an estate which has been conveyed to him. Thus, a trustee is said to disclaim who releases to his fellow-trustees his estate, and relieves himself of the trust. 1 Hill, Real Prop. 354.
Of Tenancy is the act of a person in pos session, who denies holding the estate of the person who claims to be the owner. 2 Nev. & M. 672. An affirmation, by pleading or otherwise, in a court of record, that the reversion is in a stranger. It works a for feiture of the lease at common law, Coke, Litt. 251 ; 1 Cruise, Dig. 109, but not, it is said, in the United States. 1 Washburn, Real Prop. 93. Equity, it is said, will not aid a tenant in denying his landlord's title. 1 Pet. 486.
In Patent Law. See PATENT.
In Pleading. A renunciation by the de fendant of all claim to the subject of the demand made by the plaintiff's bill. Cooper, Eq. Plead. 309 ; Mitford, Eq. Plead. Jerem. ed. 318.
lx EQUITY. It must, in general, be ac companied by an answer, 10 Paige, Ch. N.Y. 105 ; 2 Russ. 458. 2 Younge & C. Ch. 546 ; 9 Sim. Ch. 102 ; 2 Bland, Ch. Md. 678 ; and always, when the defendant has so connected himself with the matter that justice cannot be done otherwise. 9 Sim. Ch. 102; Hinde, Ch. Pr. 208 ; 1 Anstr. 37. It must renounce all claim in any capacity and to any extent.
6 Gill & J. Md. 152. It may be to part of a bill only, hut it must be clearly a separate and distinct part of the bill. Story, Eq. Plead. 839. A disclaimer may, in general, be abandoned, and a claim put in upon subse quent discovery of a right. Cooper, Eq. Plead. 310.
Ar LAW. In real actions, a disclaimer of tenancy or estate is frequently added to the plea of non-tenure. Littleton, 391; 10 Mass. 64. The plea may be either in abate ment or in bar, 13 Mass. 439 ; 7 Pick. Mass. 31, as to the whole or any part of the de manded premises. Stearns, Real Act. 193.
At common law it is not pleaded as a bar to the action, nor is it strictly a plea in abatement, as it does not give the plaintiff a better writ. It contains no prayer for judg ment, and is not concluded with a verifica tion. It is in effect an offer by the plaintiff to yield to the claim of the demandant and admit his title to the land. Stearns, Real Act. 193. It cannot, in general, be made by a person incapable of conveying the land. It is equivalent to a judgment in favor of the demandant, except when costs are demanded, 13 Mass. 439, in which case there must be a replication by the demandant, 6 Pick. Mass. 5; but no formal replication is requisite in Pennsylvania. 5 Watts, Penn. 70; 3 Penn. St. 367. And see 1 Washburn, Real Prop. 93.