Courtesy, or CURTESY

Courtesy, or CURTESY, in Law, is the life interest which the surviving husband has in the real or heritable estate of the wife. Both in England and in Scotland this customary right has been regarded as a national peculiarity. Littleton speaks of it as tenure 'by the curtesie of England, because this is used in no other realme but in England onely.' In Scotland it is called the courtesy or curiality of Scotland. It was probably introduced into both countries from Normandy. The four circumstances which are requisite to make a tenancy by courtesy in England are—marriage, seizin of the wife, living issue, and the wife's death. The rule that the child must have been heard to cry, which at one time was followed in England, is still adhered to in Scotland. It is not necessary, however, in either country, that the child survive; it is enough that it was once in existence, although it should have died immediately after its birth. In both countries, the child must be the mother's heir, and it is consequently said that courtesy is due to the surviving husband rather as the father of an heir than as the widower of an heiress.