French v. French
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
3 N.H. 234 (1825)
Andrew French (plaintiff) deeded farm property to his son George French (defendant), and George in turn executed a deed conveying his father a life estate in half the property, but that deed was attested by only one witness rather than the two witnesses New Hampshire's 1791 act required for a valid deed conveyance. When Andrew petitioned to enter and use the land under his life estate, George argued the deed was invalid for failing the two-witness requirement, and that the statute invalidated any deed not meeting its formalities regardless of any other available common-law method of conveyance.
Whether New Hampshire's 1791 act declaring the mode of conveyance by deed invalidates any conveyance of a real-property interest that fails to meet the deed's statutory formalities, even where a common-law method of conveyance would otherwise apply.