No one can at the same time be the heir and the owner of the same tenement.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) A person cannot simultaneously be both heir and owner of the same tenement — the two capacities are incompatible because the heir's right exists only in expectation of the owner's death.

Where this applies

• A man tries to inherit his own house from himself by naming himself as both owner and heir in a trust, and the court says the two roles cannot coexist in the same person at the same time.
• A property owner cannot designate herself as her own heir because the heir's interest only arises upon the owner's death — you cannot be both simultaneously.
• A man places his house in a trust naming himself as sole beneficiary and then claims to inherit it — the court holds that being the current owner and the prospective heir of the same property is a legal impossibility.