Interests
any combination of bundle of rights
Undivided interest.
owner's interest is in a fractional part of the entire
estate, not in a physical portion of the real property itself.
Types of interests
Estate, Ecumberance, Public Interest
estate, or estate-in-land
interest-holder enjoys the right of possession; also called tenancies
encumbrance
private interest-holder does not enjoy the right of possession; enables a non-owning party to restrict the owner's bundle of rights
police power
government entities' non-possessory interests in real
estate which act to control land use for the public good within the entity's jurisdiction.
leasehold
of limited duration
freehold
duration is not necessarily limited
FREEHOLD ESTATES
implies "ownership" in contrast to leasehold
Fee simple estate (ownership without conditions)
also "fee"; most common form of estate; not limited by one's lifetime; includes the complete bundle of rights; passes to heirs. Without conditions stipulated or restricted uses.
fee simple absolute:
highest form of ownership interest
fee simple defeasible:
can revert to previous owner for violation of conditions. perpetual, provided the usage conforms to stated conditions.
Life estate
fee estate passes to another upon death of a named party. Holder called life tenant. Enjoys full ownership rights during tenancy. Future interest holders have reversionary or remainder interest.
remainder
A future freehold interest in a life estate held by a third party remainderman named by the grantor. When the life tenant dies, the estate passes to the remainderman.
reversion
1. A transfer of title from a life estate tenant
back to the grantor.
Conventional life estate
full ownership interest, limited to lifetime of life tenant or another named party; created by agreements between parties
ordinary
on death of life tenant, conventional life estate passes to remainderman or previous owner
pur autre vie
on death of another; conventional life estate passes to remainderman or previous owner
Legal life estate
A life estate established by operation of law rather than by the actions or wishes of the property owners. Examples are homestead law, dower, curtesy, and elective share; designed to protect family survivors.
homestead:
rights to one's principal residence; laws protect this from certain creditors. Exempt from force sale;
dower and curtesy
a life estate interest of a widow(er) in the real property
elective share
right to claim deceased spouse's property in lieu of will, surviving spouse must file within a limited time period. not transferrable. if the spouse fails to file, the estate passes on according to the will or the state's laws of descent.
LEASEHOLD ESTATES
An estate that entails temporary rights of use, possession, and to an extent, exclusion, but not legal ownership.
Estate for years
specific, stated duration, per lease
Estate from period-to-period
periodic tenancy. lease term renews automatically upon acceptance of monthly or periodic rent. subject to timely payment of rent.
Estate at will
tenancy for indefinite period subject to rent payment; cancelable with notice
Estate at sufferance
tenancy against landlord's will and without an agreement
tenancy
A freehold or leasehold estate held by a tenant; right to use.
Determinable
deed to the this type of defeasible estate states usage limitations. If the restrictions are violated, the estate automatically reverts to the grantor or heirs.
Condition subsequent
if conditioned violated, previous owner may repossess the property, but grantor must do so within a certain time frame.