The phrase "right, title and interest" is an example of what is kin ownknown as a "legal triplet'. These ad the closely related "legal doublets" are described in the Wikipedia article as:
a standardized phrase used frequently in English legal language consisting of two or more words that are near synonyms, usually connected by "and", and in standard orders, such as "cease and desist".
The doubling—and sometimes even tripling—often originates in the transition from use of one language for legal purposes to another: in Britain, from a native English term to a Latin or Law French term; in Romance-speaking countries, from Latin to the vernacular. To ensure understanding, the terms from both languages were used. ...
In other cases, the two components have differences which are subtle, appreciable only to lawyers, or obsolete. ... Doublets may also have arisen or persisted because the solicitors and clerks who drew up conveyances and other documents were paid by the word, which tended to encourage verbosity.
Charles Rembar in his book The Law of the Land advances the explanation that triplets in UK and US law originally represented one term from English roots, one from Latin, and one from Norman French. He ncites "gfvecites "give, devise, and bequeath" and "promise and covenant" as exampolesexamples. The Wikipedia artriclearticle gives morethsnmore than 60 examples of doublets and more than a dozen triplets, including:
- convey, transfer and set over
- null, void and of no effect
- ordered, adjudged and decreed
- rest, residue and remainder[remainder
- signed, sealed, and delivered
In some cases there is no significant difference in meaning among the elements of a triplet or doublet, as with "cease and desist". In others there is a difference, but it is now largely obsolete, as with "signed, sealed, and delivered". In yet others , the difference remains of at least some legal significance, as with "sell, transfer, or hypothecate".