Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/199

 Ch. 12. general it is advantageous for the joint-tenants to diolve the jointure; ince thereby the right of urvivorhip is taken away, and each may tranmit his own part to his own heirs. Sometimes however it is diadvantageous to diolve the joint-etate: as if there be joint-tenants for life, and they make partition, this diolves the jointure; and, though before they each of them had an etate in the whole for their own lives and the life of their companion, now they have an etate in a moiety only for their own lives merely; and, on the death of either, the reverioner hall enter on his moiety. And therefore, if there be two joint-tenants for life, and one grants away his part for the life of his companion, it is a forfeiture : for, in the firt place, by the everance of the jointure he has given himelf in his own moiety only an etate for his own life; and then he grants the ame land for the life of another: which grant, by a tenant for his own life merely, is a forfeiture of his etate ; for it is creating an etate which may by poibility lat longer than that which he is legally entitled to. III. etate held in coparcenary is where lands of inheritance decend from the ancetor to two or more perons. It aries either by common law, or particular cutom. By common law: as where a peron eied in fee-imple or in fee-tail dies, and his next heirs are two or more females, his daughters, iters, aunts, couins, or their repreentatives; in this cae they hall all inherit, as will be more fully hewn, when we treat of decents hereafter: and thee co-heirs are then called coparceners; or, for brevity, parceners only. Parceners by particular cutom are where lands decend, as in gavelkind, to all the males in equal degree, as ons, brothers, uncles, &c. And, in either of thee caes, all the parceners put together make but one heir; and have but one etate among them. Rh