Chapter 26
Personal Property
What is Property?
• A thing, tangible or intangible, that is
subject to ownership and a group of rights
and interests related to the thing that are
protected by law
– Ownership - possession, use, and enjoyment;
disposal, consumption, or destruction; willing it
away are all rights of ownership.
Kinds of Property
• Real Property - land, including not only the
surface of the earth, but also the water and
minerals on and below the surface.
• Personal Property - property that is
movable, such as as a car, airplane, or sofa.
• Intellectual Property - purely intangible;
that is, one cannot touch it.
How Can Property Be Acquired?
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Acquiring Ownership by Contract
Acquiring Ownership by Gift
Acquiring Ownership by Accession
Acquiring Ownership by Intellectual Labor
– Copyright - grant to a person the exclusive
ownership of the created material
– Catent - grant of the exclusive right to make,
use, and sell a useful product
More Acquisitions
• Acquiring Ownership by Finding
– Mislaid Property - intentionally placed
somewhere but then forgotten
– Lost Property - created when the owner
unknowingly leaves it somewhere accidentally
• Acquiring Ownership by Occupancy
– Occupancy - means taking possession of
property
• Acquiring Ownership by Inheritance
What are the Forms of Ownership?
– Ownership in severalty - exists when someone
owns all the ownership rights in property
– Co-ownership - exists when two or more
persons have the same ownership rights
– Equal rights of possession - means that no coowner can exclude any other co-owner from
any physical portion of the property
– Right of partition - allows any co-owner to
require the division of the property
More Forms
– Joint tenancy - the
equal co-ownership of
the same property
rights
– Right of survivorship means that if one of the
joint owner dies, the
survivors split the
remaining property
– Tenancy in common shares are unequal
– Tenancy by the
entireties - limited to
couples, carries ROS
– Community property each spouse owns onehalf interest in such
property
– Separate property property owned by
either spouse at the
time of marriage