I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
Nature of Real Property (part B)
by
Charles Lamson
Estates in Property
An estate is the nature and extent of interest that a person has in real or personal property. The estate that a person has in property may be:
- A fee simple estate
- A life estate
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Fee Simple Estate
A fee simple estate is the largest and most complex right that one may possess in property. A fee simple owner of property, whether real or personal, has the right to possess the property forever. The owner of a fee simple estate may also sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the property permanently or temporarily. At the death of such an owner, the property will pass to the persons provided for in the owner's will or, if no will exists, to the heirs at law.
A fee simple owner of land has the right to the surface of the land, the air above the land "all the way to heaven," and the subsoil beneath the surface all the way to the center of the earth. The courts have held, however, that the right to air above the land is not absolute. An individual cannot prevent an airplane from flying over the land unless it flies too low. It is possible for a person to own the surface of the land only and not the minerals, oil, gas, and other valuable property under the topsoil. A person may also own the soil but not the timber.
Life estate
One may have an estate in property by which the property is owned for a lifetime, known as a life estate. The person owning for the lifetime is called a life tenant. At the death of the life tenant, the title passes as directed by the original owner. The title may revert, or go back, to the grantor, the one who conveyed the life estate to the deceased. In this case, the interest of the grantor is called a reversion. Alternatively, the property may go to someone other than the grantor. Such an interest is called a remainder.
The life tenant has the exclusive right to use the property and may exclude the holder of the reversion or remainder during the life tenant's lifetime. However, while the life tenant has exclusive use of the property there is a duty on the life tenant to exercise ordinary care to preserve the property and commit no acts that would permanently harm the remainder interest. Other Interests in Real Property
Although not classified as estates, other interests a person may have in real property exist. Two common ones are easements are easements and licenses.
An easement is a right to use land, such as a right-of-way across another's land or the use of another's driveway. An easement does not give an exclusive right to possession, but a right of permanent intermittent use. It is classified as an interest in land and created by deed or by adverse use for a period of time set by statute. An easement may be granted that is not transferable; that is, it can be used only by the specific person to whom it is granted. Another type of easement transfers to any subsequent owner of the real estate to which the easement is granted. Such an easement is said to "run with the land."
A license is a right to do certain acts on the land but not a right to stay in possession of the land. It constitutes a personal right to use property for a specific purpose. A licensor normally may terminate a license at will.
Acquiring Real Property
Real property may be acquired in many of the same ways as personal property. However, some ways exist in which real property, but not personal property, can be acquired. These include accretion and adverse possession.
Accretion
Accretion is the addition to land as a result of the gradual deposit by water of solids. It takes place most commonly when a stream, river, lake, or ocean constitutes the boundary line of property. If one's land extends to the low water mark of a navigable stream, title to some land may be acquired by the rivers shifting its flow. This occurs slowly by the deposit of silt. Also, the accretion may be the result of dredging or channeling of the river. If the silt and sand are thrown up on the riverbank, thereby increasing the acreage of the land contiguous to the river, the added acreage belongs to the owner of the contiguous land.
Adverse Possession
An individual may acquire title to real property by occupying the land owned by another for a period fixed by statute. This is known as adverse possession and basically means the original owner may no longer object to a trespass. The statutory period required varies from seven years in some states to 21 in others. Occupancy must be continuous, open, hostile, visible, actual, and exclusive. It must be apparent enough to give the owner notice of trespass. In colonial times this was known as "squatters rights." To get title by adverse possession, one had to get one step further than the "squatter" did; this meant the adverse possession had to continue for the statutory period.
Position for the statutory period then gave clear title to all the land one's color of title described. Color of title is a person's apparent title. It usually arises, but does not have to, from some defective document purporting to be a deed or will or even a gift.
INTERNET RESOURCES FOR BUSINESS LAW  *SOURCE: LAW FOR BUSINESS, 15TH ED., 2005, JANET E. ASHCROFT, J.D., PGS. 501-504, 506*
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