3 - Interests and Estates Flashcards
Interests
- any combination of bundle of rights
- estates, encumbrances, police powers
Estates
- include right of possession
- leaseholds: of limited duration
- freeholds: duration not limited
Freehold Estates
implies “ownership”
Leasehold Estates
non-ownership possessory estates of limited duration
Fee Simple estate
- also “fee”: most common form of estate; not limited by one’s lifetime
- fee simple absolute:highest form of ownership interest
- defeasible: can revert to previous owner for violation of conditions
Life Estate
- passes upon death of named party
- remainder: named party receives estate after holder’s death
- reversion: previous owner receives estate after holder’s death
Conventional life estate
- full ownership interest, limited to lifetime of life tenant or names party
- created by agreement between parties
- ordinary: on death of lie tenant, passes to remainderman or previous owner
- pur autre vie: on death of another; to remainderman or previous owner
Legal life estate
- automatic creation by operation of law
- designed to protect family survivors
- homestead: rights to one’s principal residence
- laws: protect homestead from creditors
- dower and curtesy: life estate interest of widow(er)
- elective share:right to claim deceased spouse’s property in lieu of will
Leasehold Estates
non-ownership possessory estates o limited duration
Estate for years
specific, stated duration, per lease
Estate from period-to-period
lease term renews automatically on acceptance of periodic 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
What is the primary distinction between a freehold estate and a leasehold estate?
Duration of the owner’s rights. A leasehold is temporary, even if there is no specific term, while a freehold has an indeterminate duration.
The fee simple freehold estate is called the highest form of ownership interest, even though a fee simple defeasible carries some restriction on usage. Why are other estates less desirable?
With all other estates in land – life, leasehold – the holder of the estate cannot control what happens to the estate in the future. The life estate reverts or is remaindered; the leasehold terminates when the lease expires.
