Estates In Land
Fee Simple
Fee simple is an estate in land in common law. It is the most common way real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved for governments. Fee simple ownership represents absolute ownership of real property but it is limited by the four basic government powers of taxation, eminent domain, police power, and escheat and could also be limited by certain encumbrances or a condition in the deed. How ownership is limited by these government powers often involves the shift from allodial title to fee simple such as when uniting with other property owners acceding to property restrictions or municipal regulation.
If previous grantors of a fee simple estate do not create any conditions for subsequent grantees to own the conveyed property in fee simple title, which is commonly the case these days, then the title is called fee simple absolute. Other fee simple estates in real property include fee simple defeasible (or fee simple determinable) estates. A defeasible estate is created when a grantor places a condition on a fee simple estate (in the deed). Upon the happening of a specified event, the estate may become void or subject to annulment. Two types of defeasible estates are the fee simple determinable and the fee simple subject to condition subsequent. If the grantor uses durational language in the condition such as "to A as long as the land is used for a park" then upon the happening of the specified event, the estate will automatically terminate and revert to the grantor or the grantor's estate. If the grantor uses language such as "but if alcohol is served" then the grantor or the heirs have a right of entry, but the estate does not automatically revert to the grantor. In the United States many of these concepts have been modified by statute in some states.
Fee Tail
Fee tail or entail is an obsolete term of art in common law. It describes an estate of inheritance in real property which cannot be sold, devised by will, or otherwise alienated by the owner, but which passes by operation of law to the owner's heirs upon his death. Fee tail has been abolished in all but four states in the United States: Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island. New York. In most states it is provided that an attempt to create a fee tail results in a fee simple. Even in those four states that still allow fee tail, the estate holder may convert his fee tail to a fee simple during his lifetime by executing a deed. Many other states never recognized the fee tail estate at all as most of the land in the United States of America was deemed allodial. In Louisiana, the sole civil law jurisdiction in the US, the doctrine of legitime restricts owners from willing property out of their family when they die with children.
Life Estate
A life estate, is a term used in common law to describe the ownership of land for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms it is an estate in real property that ends at death. The owner of a life estate is called a "life tenant". Although the ownership of a life estate is technically temporary because it ends at a person's death (a tenancy), it is treated as complete ownership (fee simple) for the duration of the person's life, subject to limitations. Because a life estate ceases to exist upon death, the owner of the life estate cannot leave it to heirs, and the life estate cannot be inherited. Another limitation on a life estate is the doctrine of waste, which prohibits life tenants from damaging or devaluing the land, as their ownership is technically only temporary.
An owner of a life estate cannot also give a greater interest than is owned. That is, a life estate owner cannot give complete and indefinite ownership (fee simple) to another person because ownership in the property ends when the life tenant dies. If, however, the original grantee has sold his life estate [ex. from A to B], B's interest lasts until A dies, allowing B to bequest his interest, sell the land, etc. until that point. Once A dies, however, whoever possesses the land loses it (with the land likely reverting back to its original grantor). This is a life estate "pur autre vie," or the life of another. Such a life estate can also be conveyed originally, such as "to A until B dies."
In the United States, a life estate is typically used as an estate planning tool. The use of a life estate can avoid probate and ensure an intended heir will receive title to real property. For example, A may own a home and desire that B inherit the home after A's death. A can effecuate that desire by transferring title to the home to B and retaining a life estate in the home. A keeps a life estate interest and B receives a vested fee simple remainder interest. As soon as A dies, the life estate interest merges with B's remainder interest and B has a fee simple title. This avoids the use of a will and the probate process. The danger to A though, is that the grant to B is irrevocable. "Beneficiary deeds" have been statutorily created in some states to address this issue.
It is less well known that the intestacy laws of certain American states, such as Arkansas, Delaware, and Rhode Island, still limit the surviving spouse's rights to the deceased spouse's real estate to a life estate.
Leashold Estate
A leasehold estate is an ownership interest in land in which a lessee or a tenant holds real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Modern leasehold estates can take one of forms — the fixed-term tenancy or tenancy for years, the periodic tenancy, the tenancy at will, and the tenancy at sufferance, all discussed below. When a landowner allows one or more persons, called "tenants," to use his land in some way for some fixed period of time, the land becomes a leasehold, and the resident (or worker) - landowner relation is called a "tenancy." A tenant pays rent (a form of consideration) to the landowner. The leasehold can include buildings and other improvements to the land. The tenant can do one or more of: farm the leasehold, live on it, or practice a trade on it.
Tenancy for Years
A fixed-term tenancy or tenancy for years lasts for some fixed period of time. Despite the name tenancy for years, such a tenancy can last for any period of time — even a tenancy for one week would be called a tenancy for years. The duration need not be certain, but may be conditioned upon the happening of some event, (e.g. "until the crops are ready for harvest", "until the war is over"). In either case, the lease expires automatically upon the running of the specified time, or the occurrence of the specified event. If the lease is more than a year, the agreement to create it must generally be executed in writing, to satisfy the Statute of Frauds. If a lease is purported to be a tenancy for years of more than one year, and it is not put in writing, then it automatically becomes a periodic tenancy, with a rental period equal to the period between lease payments, but of no more than a year.
Termination of Tenancy for Years
The landlord and tenant can agree to terminate the lease at any time, which is called a surrender of the lease. Like the lease itself, if the term remaining on the lease at the time of the surrender exceeds one year, then the surrender must be executed in writing. A tenancy for years can also be terminated by the tenant's breach of any leasehold covenants, including the failure to pay promised rent, or allowing the land to waste.
Periodic Tenancy
A periodic tenancy, also known as a tenancy from year to year, month to month, or week to week, is an estate that exists for some period of time determined by the term of the payment of rent. An oral lease for a tenancy of years that violates the Statute of Frauds (by committing to a lease of more than a year without a writing) actually creates a periodic tenancy, the term being the term paid for in the first payment from tenant to landlord.
Termination of Periodic Tenancy
The landlord may terminate the lease at any time by giving the tenant notice as required by statute. Typically, the landlord must give six months' notice to terminate a tenancy from year to year. Tenants of lesser durations must typically receive notice equal to the period of the tenancy - for example, the landlord must give a months' notice to terminate a tenancy from month to month. However, many jurisdictions have varied these required notice periods, and some have reduced them drastically.
The notice must also state the effective date of termination, which must be on the last day of the payment period. In other words, if a month-to-month tenancy began on the 15th of the month, the termination can not be on the 20th of the following month, even though this would give the tenant more than the required one month's notice.
Tenancy at Will
A tenancy at will is a leasehold such that either the landlord or the tenant may terminate the tenancy at any time by giving reasonable notice. It usually occurs in the absence of a lease, or where the tenancy is not for consideration. Under the modern common law, tenancy at will is very rare, partly because it can only come about if the parties expressly agree that the tenancy is at will and not for rent. However, tenancy at will is common where a family member is allowed to live in the home (a nominal consideration may be required) without any formal arrangements. In most residential tenancies for consideration, the tenant may not be removed except for cause, even if there is no written lease.
If a lease exists at the sole discretion of the landlord, it grants the tenant by operation of law a reciprocal right to terminate the lease at will. However, a lease that explicitly exists at the will of the tenant (e.g. "for as long as the tenant desires to live on this land") does not imply that the landlord may terminate the lease, even for cause; rather, such language may be interpreted as granting the tenant a life estate or even a fee simple.
Termination of Tenancy at Will
A tenancy at will is broken, again by operation of law, if the:
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Tenant commits waste against the property;
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Tenant attempts to assign his tenancy;
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Landlord transfers his interest in the property;
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Landlord leases the property to another person; or
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Tenant or landlord dies.
Holdover Tenancy
A tenancy at sufferance (sometimes called a holdover tenancy) exists when a tenant remains in possession of property after the expiration of his lease, and until the landlord acts to eject the tenant from the property. Although the tenant is technically a trespasser at this point, and possession of this type is not a true estate in land, authorities recognize the condition in order to hold the tenant liable for rent. The landlord may evict such a tenant at any time, and without notice.
The landlord may also impose a new lease on the holdover tenant. For a residential tenancy, this new tenancy is month to month. For a commercial tenancy of more than a year, the new tenancy is year to year; otherwise it is the same period as the period before the original lease expired. In either case, the landlord can raise the rent, so long as the landlord has told the tenant of the higher rent before the expiration of the original lease.
Concurrent Estates
A concurrent estate or co-tenancy is a concept in property law, particularly derived from the common law of real property, which describes the various ways in which property can be owned by more than one person at a given time. The parties who own property jointly are referred to as co-tenants or joint tenants. Most common-law jurisdictions recognize three kinds of concurrent estate: tenancy in common, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and tenancy by the entirety. Many jurisdictions simply refer to a joint tenancy with right of survivorship as a joint tenancy, but a few U.S. States treat the phrase joint tenancy as synonymous with a tenancy in common.
The type of ownership determines the rights of the parties to convey their interest in the property to others, to will the property to their devisees, or to sever their joint ownership of the property. Just as each of these affords a different set of rights and responsibilities to the joint owners of property, each requires a different set of conditions in order to exist. It should be borne in mind that the law can vary from place to place, and that the following general discussion will not be applicable in its entirety to all jurisdictions.
Tenancy in Common
Tenancy in common is the default form of concurrent estate, in which each owner, referred to as a tenant in common, is regarded by the law as each owning separate and distinct shares which may differ in size. This form of ownership is common where the co-owners are not married or have contributed different amounts to the acquisition of the property. Also, if joint owners had attempted to use another form of joint ownership such as a joint tenancy with right of survivorship or a tenancy by the entirety, and the effort was for some reason invalid, the joint owners would then be tenants in common. If conclusive evidence is not available of the desire to create a tenancy with rights of survivorship or a tenancy by the entirety, courts will determine that a tenancy in common has in fact been created.
Tenants in common have no right of survivorship, meaning that if one owner dies, that owner's interest in the property will pass by inheritance to that owner's devisees or heirs, either by will, or by intestate succession.
Destruction of Tenancy in Common
Where any party to a tenancy in common wishes to destroy the joint interest, he or she can do so through a partition of the property - a division of the land into distinctly owned plots if such division is legally permitted based upon zoning and other local land use restrictions or, where such division is not permitted, a forced sale of the property followed by a division of proceeds.
If the parties are unable to agree to a partition, any or all of them may seek the ruling of a court to determine how the land should be divided up, physically divide it between the joint owners (partition in kind), leaving each with ownership of a portion of the property representing their share. Courts may also order a partition by sale in which the property is sold and the proceeds are distributed to the owners. Where local law does not permit physical division, the court must order a partition by sale.
Each co-owner is entitled to partition as a matter of right, meaning that the court will order a partition at the request of any of the co-owners. The only exception to this general rule is where the co-owners have agreed, either expressly or impliedly, to waive the right of partition. The right may be waived either permanently, for a specific period of time, or under certain conditions.
Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship
A joint tenancy with right of survivorship or JTWROS is a type of concurrent estate in which the joint owners have a right of survivorship, meaning that if one owner dies, that owner's interest in the property will automatically pass to the remaining owner or owners. On the death of one of the tenants, the whole of the property passes to remaining tenant(s); this is the "right of survivorship." The deceased tenant's property interest simply evaporates by operation of law, and cannot be inherited by his heirs (which means it avoids going through probate). Under this type of ownership, the last owner living takes all.
It is important to note, however, that creditors' claims against the deceased tenant's estate may, under certain circumstances, be satisfied by the portion of ownership previously owned by the deceased, but now owned by the survivor or survivors. In other words, the deceased's liabilities can sometimes remain attached to the property.
This form of ownership is common between husband and wife, and parent and child, and in any other situation where parties want absolute ownership to immediately pass to the survivor. For bank and brokerage accounts held in this fashion, the acronym JTWROS is commonly appended to the account name as evidence of the owners' intent.
In order to create this type joint ownership, the party or parties seeking to create it must use specific language indicating that intent. For example, if Joey wishes to convey property for Kelly and Lisa to share as joint tenants with right of survivorship, Joey must state in the deed that the property is being conveyed "to Kelly and Lisa as joint tenants with right of survivorship, and not as tenants in common."
The Four Unities
In order for a JTWROS to be created, the co-owners must share the four unities:
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Time = the property interest must be acquired by both tenants at the same time.
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Title = both tenants must have the same title to the property in the deed - if the deed places a condition on one tenant and not the other, they do not have the same title, and the attempt to create a JTWROS is invalid.
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Interest = both tenants must have the same interest in the property - e.g. three owners each having a 1/3 interest.
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Possession = both tenants must have the right to possess the whole property - if one owner can prove that he or she has been improperly excluded from the property by the other, the JTWROS will be invalidated.
If any one of the four unities is missing, the JTWROS is invalid, and becomes a tenancy in common.
Breaking a Joint Tenancy
The co-tenant in property owned by a JTWROS can break the JTWROS as to their interest in the property at any time by conveying their interest in the property to another person. Under the old common law, this required an actual exchange with a straw man - another person who would buy the property from the co-tenant for some nominal consideration, then sell it back to the co-tenant at the same low price. Many states now permit a joint tenant to break the JTWROS without a straw man, simply by executing a document to that effect - even if that owner does not inform the other owners. In either case, the JTWROS will, again, revert to a tenancy in common as to that owner's interest in the property.
There is a big problem that is possible with the simple document execution method. In the straw man approach, there are witnesses to the transfer. With the document, there may not be witnesses. With either method, as soon as the break occurs, it works both ways. Because there may not be witnesses, the party with the document could take advantage of that fact and hide the document when the other party dies.
It is important to note, however, that if there are three or more owners, and only one of the owners breaks the JTWROS, the other owners remain in the JTWROS as to each other. For example, suppose Joey, Kelly, and Lisa own a piece of property as joint tenants with right of survivorship, but then Joey conveys his share in the property to Ryan. If Ryan dies, his 1/3 share will go to his heirs. But if Kelly dies, her 1/3 share will go to Lisa, because they still owned their total 2/3 share in JTWROS.
Effect of a Mortgage
Where one party takes out a mortgage on the jointly owned property, this may break the JTWROS, depending on the law of the state. Some states use a lien theory, which posits that the taking of a mortgage merely places a lien on the property, leaving the joint tenancy undisturbed. However, other states that use a title theory, contending that a mortgage actually conveys title from the mortgagor [co-tenant] to the mortgagee [lender] until the mortgage is paid. In such states, the taking of a mortgage by one owner breaks the joint tenancy as to that owner.
A creditor's judgment lien is not enough, no severance, if debtor dies before creditor sues, the creditor has no interest in the property left to collect against.
Tenancy by the Entirety
Tenancy by the entirety is a type of concurrent estate available only to married couples, wherein ownership of the property is treated as though the couple are a single legal person. Like a JTWROS, the tenancy by the entirety also encompasses a right of survivorship, so if one spouse dies, the entire interest in the property passes to the surviving spouse, without going through probate.
In order for a tenancy by the entirety to be created, in some jurisdictions the party or parties seeking to create it must specify in the deed that the property is being conveyed to the couple "as tenants by the entirety". Also, the parties must share the four unities necessary to create a joint tenancy with right of survivorship - time, title, interest, and possession - plus a fifth unity, marriage. However, unlike a JTWROS, neither party in a tenancy by the entirety has a unilateral right to sever the tenancy by the entirety - if it is to be undone, or if any part of the property is to be conveyed to another person, this must be carried out by both spouses. A divorce breaks the unity of marriage, leaving the default tenancy, which may be a tenancy in common. Many US jurisdictions no longer recognize tenancy by the entirety. Where it is recognized, benefits can include the ability to shield entireties property from creditors of only one spouse, as well as the ability to partially shield entireties property where only one spouse is filing a petition for bankruptcy relief.
