Estates of Land:

- A real estate owner has the same rights as an owner of personal property:
- right to possess it,
- to control it,
- to enjoy it, and
- to exclude it from others, as well as the right
- to dispose of it by selling it, gifting it, abandoning it, or bequeathing itwhat lawyers call
alienation
- ownership or possession of real property is more complex than it is for personal property because
realty has 2 qualities that personal property does not:
1 land is basically indestructible, and
2 land is not consumed in its use
real estate interests !ary in types of interest and in their duration
whether such interests are transferrable
depend on e!ents or speci"c actions
### Anyone purchasing real estate should $now what $ind of estate is being
transferred, because it can se!erely limit the rights of the new property owner, and
will also a%ect the !alue of the real estate
Estate in Land
& interest in real property that allows possession either now or sometime in the future for a
speci"c or unlimited period of time
& could be freehold or leasehold
A. freehold estate
= duration of ownership is indeterminate, which could be for a lifetime of an indi!idual
or an unlimited duration 'in most cases, the real estate that you buy is a freehold
estate(
= )reehold estate include
1 fee simple estate
2 life estate
B. leasehold estate
& lasts for a de"nite period of time
& A leaseholder has no power to alienate the property 'transfer it to others(* only her
own interest can be transferred if it is allowed by the lease
& +easehold estates include
1 estate for years - lasts for a de"nite period of time
- ,g a tenant signing a 1 year lease has such an estate in years
2 estate at will - a tenant can stay until either the tenant or the owner
terminates the possession
- estate at suferance - exists when the tenant stays after the lease has
expired, in which case, the landlord can expel the tenant at any time
Fee Simple Estate
- also $nown as fee simple absolute, fee ownership, estate of inheritance
- absolute ownership of the property* entitles the owner to all rights of the property 'only
restricted by law or pri!ate restrictions, such as .one ordinances or co!enants(
- At the death of the owner, the estate passes to the owner/s heirs
fee simple defeasible estate
& estate in which the duration of ownership is subject to some condition, of
which there are two types
=both require that some condition be satis"ed or that an e!ent happens or
doesn/t happen
& they di%er when the condition is no longer satis"ed
1 fee simple defeasible subject to a condition subseuent
- the original owner has the ri!ht of reentry, but must go to court to obtain
it
2 fee simple determinable
- the original owner has the possibility of re"erterthe property will
re!ert bac$ to the owner automatically, without ha!ing to go to court or re-
enter the land if the condition is not satis"ed
Life Estate
- a freehold estate where ownership is limited to the duration of some person/s lifetime, either the
person holding the life estatethe life tenantor some other designated person
- 0he owner has most of the rights of ownership, in that he can pro"t from it, possess it, or lease
it, but those rights end when the life estate ends
- 0he life tenant can lease, sell, or mortgage only his ownership interest in the property
###0he life tenant cannot alienate the property, nor can he allow the estate to
wastedestroying real property or letting it deteriorate
- con"entional life estate
- ends when the life of the life tenant ends
- 1wnership then either re!erts bac$ to the pre!ious owner or passes to another designated
person who holds a future interest in the property
# estate pur autre "ie '2for the life of another3(
- duration depends on the life of a person other than the life tenant
- can be passed to heirs as long as the designated person is still ali!e
- created so that mentally or physically incapacitated people can be cared for by the life
tenant
- 4hen the life estate is created, the fee simple owner must designate who will become the new
fee simple owner of the property
- A life estate with a re"ersionary interest simply re!erts bac$ to the original fee simple owner
when the life estate ends
- the original owner could designate a remainderperson 'a$a remainderman(, who will recei!e
the title to the property when the life estate ends
Le!al Life Estate:
- created by law rather than by the owner of the land
$. %ower and &urtesy
- marital life estates in that the partial interest, usually 5 or 16- interest, which
a spouse has in the real estate of the deceased spouse when the deceased
spouse wills the property to someone else
- gi!es the sur!i!ing spouse an electi!e interest in the deceased spouse/s
property
- dower - the life estate created for a wife
curtesy - the life estate for a husband
'. (omestead
- le!al life estate created for a family as long as the family li!es in the house
that gi!es some protection against creditors