Termination of possession & holdership (Ch. 15)

Question 1

What is the primary rule regarding retaining of possession and holdership?

Answer 1

Both elements, physical and mental, must be present.

Question 2

Name the 6 causes for loss of possession & holdership

Answer 2

1. The possessor or holder dies
2. The thing which is possessed or held is destroyed or permanently lost
3. The physical element of control is lost
4. The mental element of control is lost
5. Control is transferred to someone else
6. Possession or holdership is terminated by operation of law

Question 3

When is possession or holdership terminated wrt loss?

Answer 3

Only when the movable object is lost permanently.

• Misplacement does not cause such loss, unless the possessor or holder gives up and abandons all hope and intention of finding it again
• Even then, it depends where it was lost (at home, or in a public space)

Question 4

What indicators may used to determine whether the physical aspect of control was lost?

Answer 4

The indicators used to test for effective control.

Question 5

When is possession and holdership terminated wrt the mental element?

Answer 5

When the mental element of control is lost permanently.

- The mental element is a factual matter

Question 6

Discuss ‘customary law rights in property’

Answer 6

• Customary law rights in property cannot really be described as real rights or as ownership or as limited real rights, because their nature and function are so uniquely tied in with the social structure which underlies customary relationships.
• They are rights in property, but they are unlike any of the other rights in property.