COMMON ASSURANCE. The technical de scription of the ordinary processes for conveying the title to land. The term assurance was also employed, without the qualifying adjective, in such phrases as 'a covenant to make further as surance' (meaning a covenant to protect the title conveyed by making or procuring the mak ing of any further instrument which might be necessary for that purpose), but the instrument or act of conveyance itself was always described as a common assurance. Blackstone defines com mon assurances as the legal evidences of the translation or transfer of real property, and comprehends under that description the four fol lowing modes of alienation: (1) By matter in pais or by deed; (2) by matter of record, or an assurance transacted in the King's public courts of record; (3) by special custom obtaining in some particular places and relating only to some particular species of property; (4) by devise.
By matter in Dais is meant a transaction to be evidenced by witnesses before a jury, and it has reference to the old common-law method of conveyance by feoffment or livery of seisin. The deed referred to is the deed of grant. which has in modern times come to supersede most of the other modes of transfer, Alienation by matter of record includes assurance by private acts of Parliament, the King's grants, and the awkward processes by fictitious suit, known as common recovery and fine. Under alienation by special
custom, Blackstone describes only the peculiar mode of conveyance 'by surrender and admit tance.' whereby copyhold lands were transferred. Denise was employed in the same sense as that which it now bears, and included any gift of land, present or future, or of any interest in land, by last will and testament.
It will be noticed that these four modes of conveyance comprehend every form of voluntary alienation of real property, only involuntary alienations, as by forfeiture, escheat, bank ruptcy, eminent domain, and the like, and the transmission of lands by descent, being omitted from the category of common assurances. See ALIENATION; CONVEYANCE; TITLE; and the names of the various common assurances re ferred to above. Consult the Commentaries of Blackstone, Stephen, and Kent, and the authori ties referred to under CONVEYANCING and TITLE.