Legal Definitions - disseisin

Definition: Disseisin (also spelled disseizin) is the act of wrongfully depriving someone of their ownership or possession of property, also known as dispossession.

Examples:

• Disseisin by election: This is a legal fiction where a property owner can claim that they have been disseised, even if it's not true, in order to have a remedy against an adverse claimant.
• Equitable disseisin: This is the wrongful deprivation of the equitable ownership, possession, or the fruits of ownership or possession.
• Fresh disseisin: This is the right at common law of a person who has been disseised of land to forcefully eject the disseisor from the land without resorting to law, as long as the ejection occurred soon after the disseisin.

For example, if someone wrongfully takes possession of your land, you have been disseised. You can then use the legal fiction of disseisin by election to claim that you have been disseised, even if it's not true, in order to have a remedy against the adverse claimant. Equitable disseisin can occur when someone wrongfully takes the fruits of your ownership or possession, such as rent or crops. Fresh disseisin allows you to forcefully eject the disseisor from the land without resorting to law, as long as you do it soon after the disseisin.