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Property law

Part of the common law series

Acquisition

Gift · Adverse possession · Deed Conquest · Discovery · Accession Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property Treasure trove  · Bailment · License Alienation

Estates in land

Allodial title · Fee simple · Fee tail Life estate · Defeasible estate Future interest · Concurrent estate Leasehold estate · Condominiums

Conveyancing

Bona fide purchaser Torrens title · Strata title Estoppel by deed · Quitclaim deed Mortgage · Equitable conversion Action to quiet title · Escheat

Future use control

Restraint on alienation Rule against perpetuities Rule in Shelley's Case Doctrine of worthier title

Nonpossessory interest

Easement · Profit Covenant running with the land Equitable servitude

Related topics

Fixtures · Waste · Partition Riparian water rights Lateral and subjacent support Assignment · Nemo dat Property and conflict of laws

Other common law areas

Contract law · Tort law Wills, trusts and estates Criminal law · Evidence

v • d • e

An estate in land is an interest in real property that is or may become possessory.

This should be distinguished from an "estate" as used in reference to an area of land, and "estate" as used to refer to property in general.

In property law, the rights and interests associated with an estate in land may be conceptually understood as a "bundle of rights" because of the potential for different parties having different interests in the same real property.

[edit] Categories of estates

Estates in land can be divided into five basic categories:

1. Freehold estates: rights of ownership
   • fee simple (fee simple absolute)—most rights, least limitations, indefeasible
   • fee tail—inalienable rights of inheritance
   • conditional, Defeasible estate, or determinable fee—voidable ownership
   • life estate—ownership for duration of someone's life
2. Leasehold estates: rights of possession and use but not ownership. The lessor (owner/landlord) gives this right to the lessee (tenant). There are four categories of leasehold estates:
   1. estate for years (tenancy for years)—lease of any length with specific begin and end date
   2. periodic estate (periodic tenancy)—automatically renewing lease (month to month, week to week)
   3. estate at will (tenancy at will)—leasehold for no fixed time or period. It lasts as long as both parties desire. Termination is bilateral (either party may terminate at any time) or by operation of law.
   4. tenancy at sufferance—created when tenant remains after lease expires and becomes a holdover tenant, converts to holdover tenancy upon landlord acceptance; see Forcible Entry and Detainer Statutes
   • Types of leases:
     • gross lease
     • net lease
     • percentage lease
3. Statutory estates: created by law
   • community property
   • homestead
   • dower—interest a wife has in the property of her husband
   • curtesy—interest a husband has in the property of his wife
   • tenancy by entirety
4. Equitable estates: neither ownership nor possession
   • lien
     • general
     • specific
   • easement
     • easement in gross
     • easement appurtenant
       • ingress
       • egress