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Estates are interests in land
An estate provides a possessor with all the
rights associated with tenures (mainly the
right to occupy) as well as an interest in a
property
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Estate ownership is the most common form
of ownership today
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There are 5 types of estates, namely fee
simple, life, future, lease and use
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Absolute right in real property; highest estate
in terms of rights
It provides the most exercisable rights over
land with a minimum number of limitations
Fee simple owners can, enter, gift or lease
land
Fee simple ownership has five limitations:
1. Taxes, failure to pay which your property
may be taken away
2. Interference by police
3. Government’s right to regulate – including
the right to change zoning limiting use
4. Escheat - the government may take away
land if its owner dies and there is no heir to
take it
5. Expropriation by government for public use
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Owners of life estates exercise ownership
rights over the estate till their death
Ownership rights for life estates are granted
for the period of a lifetime
Second highest right over property
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If a fee simple owner gives his father a life
estate for a particular property, once the
father dies, the property will return to the fee
simple owner
The father will be able to exercise ownership
rights, including the ability to use or lease the
property, up until the point where he dies
Upon his death, interest in the property will
revert back to the son
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Future estate is an interest that arises in
property once the life estate ends
When the life estate owner dies, the future
estate becomes the fee simple owner of the
property
If a son grants his father a life estate and
mother a future estate, once the father dies,
the mother will become the life estate. Upon
the mother’s death, the son will become the
fee simple owner
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A fee simple owner grants a life estate to his
wife and a future estate to his children. If the
fee simple owner dies before his wife and
children, they will share 50-50 ownership of
the estate
In case an estate is jointly owned, if a single
party wishes to lease or sell the estate, they
will need the consent of the other parties
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Leasehold estate grants rights for a limited
period of time
Once the lease comes to an end, the estate
expires
Tenants typically have a number of rights
during their lease term, but once their leases
expire, they have no rights with regards to
the property
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Estate to Uses allows use of property but it does
not confer ownership rights
It is a onetime method for holding lifetime
ownership
For instance, if a person gives a property to his
mother to stay in as long as she needs to without
paying any rent or monetary compensation. Once
she leaves or dies, the property will return to the
fee simple owner
This estate is not used anymore
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What is the best description of fee simple?
◦ “Highest rights, fewest limitations”
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What kind of estate is a life estate?
◦ Life = life; life estate lasts for a lifetime
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When can a future estate sell property without
consent?
◦ On death of fee simple owner, future estate becomes fee
simple
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What happens if lease contract in place from when
wife had life estate and child had future estate,
and wife dies after contract is made?
◦ Kid becomes fee simple owner and can evict tenant
◦ Contract becomes void if life estate or future estate dies
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Husband is a fee simple owner. He has the
most rights with the least number of
limitations. He can own, lease, use, gift or sell
land or anything, except:
◦ Police can interfere
◦ Government can expropriate
◦ Government can raise taxes
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If husband dies without a will, life estate and
future estate will get 50-50 share in
ownership – “life is wife, future are kids”
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If life estate and future estate have 50-50
share of the property, one party may not sell
or lease it without consent of the other
If the life estate owner dies, the future estate
owner will become fee simple owner
It operates as a cycle
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Concurrent ownership arises when two or
more persons have ownership of a property
at the same point in time
There are two kinds of concurrent ownership,
namely joint tenancy and tenancy in common
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Joint tenancy is typically between husband
and wife
Survivorship operates in joint tenancy, which
means that if one joint tenant dies, their
rights transfer to the remaining joint tenant(s)
Since joint tenancies are governed by the
survivorship principle, wills do not operate in
joint tenancy
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Joint tenants do not have a share of interest –
each joint tenant has 100% interest in the
property
The four PITT unities must be present for a
joint tenancy, namely possession, interest,
time and title
If the four PITT conditions are not met, the
tenancy is a tenancy in common
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Equal Possession:
◦ Each joint tenant is entitled to equal possession of
the property, i.e. the full property
◦ Joint tenants may not exclude one another from
possessing any part of the property
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Equal interest
◦ Each joint tenant has equal and identical interest
◦ This means that a fee simple owner and a leasehold
owner cannot be joint tenants
◦ They collectively own 100% of the property; there are
no shares
◦ If one party dies, the other is entitled to 100% of the
property
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Time
◦ The joint tenants must have acquired their interest in
the property
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Equal Title
◦ The joint tenants must get their identical interests in
land from the same document (typically a tenancy
deed)
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Under tenancy in common, you own a share in
the property
Survivorship does not apply, and tenants can
leave their share to anyone through a will
Only unity of possession is required for tenancy
in common
It is a common arrangement between friends and
business partners