Wadset

In Scotland, the ancient term for a mortgage. A right by which lands or other property are pledged by their owner to a creditor in security for a debt, usually in the form of a mutual contract, in which one party sells the land and the other grants the right of reversion.

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WADSET, Scotch law. A right, by which lands, or other heritable subjects, are impignorated by the proprietor to his creditor in security of his debt; and, like other heritable rights, is perfected by seisin.
     2. Wadsets, by the present practice, are commonly made out in the form of mutual contracts, in which one party sells the land, and the other grants, the right of reversion. Ersk. Pr. L. Scot., B. 2, t. 8, s. 1, 2.
     3. Wadsets are proper or improper. Proper, where the use of the land shall go for the use of the money. Improper, where the reverser agrees to make up the deficiency; and where it amounts to more, the surplus profit of the land is applied to the extinction of the principal. Id. B. 2, t. 8, s. 12, 13.