Thomas Buchanan v. John Adam

This case was about a “wadset,” an arrangement in which a debtor conveyed property to a creditor as security for a debt. The facts of the case were somewhat unusual in that the same debt was secured partly by a wadset and partly by an annual-rent. Interest rates had dropped considerably since the wadset was established in 1615; Pursuer Thomas Buchanan argued that in light of this changed circumstance, the annual-rent represented a full security, and the wadset should be considered “improper.” (The parties' immediate predecessors are listed on this case page; more detailed chains of title are described in the case documents.)