Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

ENFEOFFMENT TO USE

A legal procedure by which a landowner granted land to another person on the understanding that the grantee would do what the original owner instructed. It was a means of bypassing legislation which under certain circumstances restricted the bequeathing of freehold property, e.g. "entail. 'Enfeoffment to use' came under the purview of the "chancery. The phrase was sometimes abbreviated to 'in use' or 'the use', while the procedure itself was also known asCestui-que-use. -
Cf.Entail; Jointure