Definition
A procuratory of resignation is a formal legal instrument used in Scots law by which a vassal authorizes the return of a feudal holding — known as a feu — to the superior from whom it was originally granted. The document functions as a power of attorney, constituting an agent (known as an attorney or procurator) to appear before the superior and formally surrender the vassal's interest in the land on the vassal's behalf. The act of surrender completed through this instrument is called resignation, and the procuratory is the written authority enabling it.
The resignation itself could serve one of two purposes: resignation ad remanentiam (an absolute surrender of the feu back to the superior, extinguishing the vassal's title entirely) or resignation in favorem (a surrender in favor of a named third party, enabling a conveyance of the land through the superior).
Why It Matters in Research
This term belongs exclusively to the historical vocabulary of Scots feudal land law and will appear primarily in pre-20th-century Scottish legal records, title deeds, and conveyancing materials. Researchers encountering this term in historical documents should understand that it signals a formal transfer or extinguishment of feudal tenure, not a voluntary abandonment or forfeiture in any modern sense.
The feudal tenure system underlying this instrument was progressively dismantled in Scotland by the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000, which came fully into force in 2004. Procuratories of resignation have no operative role in modern Scots conveyancing, but they remain significant in title examination and historical chain-of-title research, where older deeds may depend on one as a link in the progress of titles.
Researchers should be alert to the distinction between the two forms of resignation. A resignation ad remanentiam that was never completed by re-grant from the superior could leave a gap in a historical title that subsequent instruments must bridge. A resignation in favorem, by contrast, is functionally analogous to a modern conveyance but routed through the superior's confirmation. The two forms are not always clearly labeled in older documents, requiring close reading of the operative clauses.
Cross-referencing with instruments of sasine — the separate act by which possession of Scottish land was formally transferred — is often necessary, as a procuratory of resignation and a subsequent sasine together constituted a complete feudal conveyance in favor of a new vassal.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd ed.) defines the procuratory of resignation concisely as a form by which a vassal authorizes the feu to be returned to his superior, citing Bell, and analogizes it to the surrender of copyholds in England. The English copyhold analogy is useful for common law researchers as an orientation point: like a copyhold surrender, the procuratory of resignation was the necessary first step in any disposition of the land interest, whether the ultimate aim was to extinguish the title or transfer it to another. The analogy has limits, however — copyhold surrender was conducted before the lord's court and entered on the court roll, while the procuratory of resignation was a private deed creating agency authority, with the actual resignation performed before witnesses or notary. Black's entry, brief as it is, captures the essential function without elaborating on the in favorem / ad remanentiam distinction, which is the more practically important detail for title researchers.
No entry for this term appears in later standard legal dictionaries reflecting the post-feudal reform era, consistent with the instrument's obsolescence following the 2000 Act.
Jurisdictional Note
This term is specific to Scots law and has no equivalent in English law beyond the approximate copyhold analogy. It does not appear in Irish, American, or Commonwealth common law traditions. Researchers working in English or American historical land law should treat any reference to a procuratory of resignation as an indicator that Scottish law and Scottish title records govern.