mortmain, in English law, the state of land being held by the “dead hand” (French: mort main) of a corporation. In feudal days a conveyance of land to a monastery or other corporation deprived the lord of many profitable feudal incidents, for the corporation was never under age, never died, and never committed felony or married. Statutes were consequently passed between the 13th and the 16th century prohibiting alienation into mortmain without license from the crown. The modern law was contained in the Mortmain and Charitable Uses acts, 1888 and 1891, and in a number of acts that authorized limited companies and some other corporations to hold land without license in mortmain. An unauthorized conveyance into mortmain made the land liable to forfeiture to the crown.
The law of mortmain was abolished in Britain in 1960. Mortmain legislation still exists, however, in some other jurisdictions in the Commonwealth and in the United States.