In the
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
, emblements are annual crops produced by cultivation legally belonging to the
tenant
Tenant may refer to:
Real estate
*Tenant, the holder of a leasehold estate in real estate
*Tenant-in-chief, in feudal land law
*Tenement (law), the holder of a legal interest in real estate
*Tenant farmer
*Anchor tenant, one of the larger stores ...
with the implied right for its harvest, and are treated as the tenant's property.
The doctrine chiefly comes into play in the law of
landlord and tenant
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a ...
, or in the
foreclosure
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.
Formally, a mortg ...
of
mortgages
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
and other legal situations that place the rights of another party in contention with those of a
farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...
who has planted a crop yet to be harvested. The doctrine also applies to the estate of a deceased tenant. In these situations, the doctrine of emblements operates to guarantee the farmer's right to reap and carry away the fruits of his labor even if he loses title to the land on which they are grown.
[''Pittman v. Max H. Smith Farms, Inc.'', 506 N.E.2d 1139 (Ind. Ct. App., 1987).]
The right to emblements became less important in England in 1851, when most of its protections were established under the
Landlord and Tenant Act 1851
The Landlord and Tenant Act 1851 (14 and 15 Vict c.25) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that regulates the relationship between tenants and their landlord
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, ...
. Still, there are circumstances when the ancient right still holds, and any person entitled to emblements may enter upon the lands after the determination of the tenancy for the purpose of cutting and carrying away the crops.
In
Scots law
Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland l ...
, the term is not used, but tenants have the equivalent rights.
Related article(s)
*
Fructus naturales
In property law, ''fructus naturales'' are the natural fruits of the land on which they arise, such as the produce from old roots (pasturage) and uncultivated plants (e.g. timber and fruit), and wild game. In many common law legal systems, ''fruc ...
References
Agricultural terminology
Agriculture in society
{{Agri-stub