ADDED CHAPTERS ON REAL ESTATE. CHAPTER XLIII. KINDS OF INTEREST IN REAL ESTATE. 1. Real Estate.-All property is divisible into two kinds, real estate (also called real property), and personal property. Real estate means land and everything growing or built upon it, such as trees, houses, etc. Or we may say that real estate means land, and that the houses, trees, etc., are a part of the land. Personal property includes everything else. Thus, all the capital stock of railroad companies and other corporations is personal property, even though the property of the corporation consists only of land. A note, draft, or claim upon a debtor is personal property. Some kinds of real property may become personal under some circumstances. Thus trees growing, and coal in the mine, are real, but when the trees are cut down, and the coal is mined, they become personal. In the same way when a post is set upon land it changes from personal to real.* 2. Kinds of Interest.-There is much variety in the kinds of interest or ownership which may be had in real *The word "real" in the phrase does not have the sense of true, for personal property is just as truly property, but refers rather to its fixed, immovable character. Personal property, on the other hand, is in general movable property. So far in this book we have been concerned only with personal property. property. It may be full and absolute ownership, or it may be conditional, to end if a certain event happens, as when a widow receives property which she is to lose if she marries again, or as when a railroad company is given land on condition that its road is built within a certain time. Again, the ownership may be given to one without limit as to the time for which it is to last, or it may be limited to his lifetime, after which the property is to go to some one else who is named (sec. 4). Again, one may have an interest or kind of ownership in property, while his right to use it is de: ferred until some future time (sec. 5). Still again, one may have the right to use certain property for a certain definite period, as for a year. That is a tenant's interest, but it is not called an ownership. In this chapter we shall consider only the kinds of ownership. (See Chap. XLVIII.) More than one person may have the same kind of ownership in the same land at the same time (sec. 6). It will be seen that two persons may also have different kinds of ownership in the same property at the same time, as where one owns a life interest and another a future interest. (See also sec. 7.) 3. Full Ownership.—In this country by far the greater part of the real estate is owned in full absolute ownership —in legal terms, it is owned in fee-simple. One may do what he chooses with property he owns in full. He may use it, sell it, or give it away, or at his death give it by will to whomsoever he chooses. He may, if he wishes, destroy any of it, as for instance by tearing down a house. He injures no one else by doing so, because no one else has any ownership in it to be injured, and his power over it is unlimited so long as he inflicts injury on no one but himself. But yet there is a certain limitation upon his use of it, which is embodied in the rule that no one has a right to use his own property in such a way as to injure others or their property. Thus, no one has a right to maintain upon his property something which is a public nuisance, such as a very offensive trade, etc. If A and B are adjoining owners and A digs a cellar for his house, he must not dig it in such a way as to cause any of B's land to fall into the pit. 4. Life Ownership.-Property may be given to one to hold and enjoy as long as another person lives (e.g., to A to own during B's life), but ordinarily where there is a life limitation it is for the life of the person himself (i.e., to A to own during his own life). In a life ownership the owner may, during that time, use the property as he sees fit, and is entitled to all the profits arising from it. He may use it himself or rent it to others. Thus his rights are, as to a proper use, the same as those of a full owner. But we may notice three particulars in which his rights are less than those of a full owner: (1) he cannot sell or mortgage the property; (2) he cannot control the disposition of it at his death; and (3) he can do nothing with it which will decrease its value, as by taking down buildings, cutting down trees, etc. As to selling, a life owner cannot sell the property itself so as to give the buyer the full ownership, for that would be selling what he has not himself. But he can sell or mortgage what he has, viz., his life ownership, and in that case a buyer would obtain the right to use it so long as the first party lived. Thus if A had a life ownership and sold it to B, B would own it during A's life. In the same way the creditors of a life owner can never take the property, but only A's interest in it. If he rents it the tenant must give it up at his death. As to willing away the property, it must be seen that if a life owner had such a power his interest would extend beyond his own life. As to decreasing *Law is, to a very large extent, the balancing and adjusting of rights. its value he cannot do that because others have an interest in it (sec. 5). He may use it, but not abuse it. The life owner must pay the ordinary taxes laid upon the property. A life ownership may arise in several different ways. The following ways are some of the most common. (1) A full owner may, during his life or at his death, give a life ownership to one for whom he wishes to provide but to whom he does not care to give the power to dispose of the property (e.g., a father and a spendthrift son). (2) A widow is by law entitled to a life interest in one-third of all the lands which her husband has owned since their marriage, unless he has conveyed them away and she has joined in the deed with him. That is called her dower. (3) In many States a widower is entitled to a life interest in all the lands which his wife has owned since their marriage, provided a child has been born, and unless he has conveyed them away with her. 5. Future Interest.-By this we mean an ownership where the right to use the property itself depends upon some future event. In a sense, the person having such a future interest is an owner now. Thus, there is always a future interest connected with a life interest, for there is some one else who is to take the property when the life owner dies. Neither of them can affect the other's ownership. The owner of a future interest has no right to any use of the land until the event happens, and then his interest is in some cases full ownership, in others life ownership, etc. The interest of a child during his parent's life in the latter's property is not a future interest in land, as we here use the term. It is not a legal claim or right. The parent may sell or lose the land, or leave it to others by his will. But a future interest is itself property, which no one can deprive the owner of without his consent. 6. Joint Ownership is where two or more persons together own and possess the same property at the same time. It is different from the case of a present owner and the owner of a future interest (sec. 5), for in joint ownership each has a present and equal right to possession. The relation may arise in several ways. It arises when property is given by deed as a single piece to two or more. On the death of a person without a will his heirs become joint owners of his real estate. Each joint owner is said to have an undivided share of the whole, and the shares may be sometimes unequal. But unless the will or the deed or the law creating the joint ownership specially designates the proportions, the shares are all equal. All may use the property together, and each is entitled to a proportionate share of the profits. Each may sell to any one his individual share. If all sell together to the same person he becomes sole owner. Joint owners may divide the property among themselves, and thus make themselves separate owners of the separate parts. If they cannot agree, any one of them may bring a suit, and the court will divide the property among them according to their relative interests. 7. Trusts. It is sometimes desired to give one the benefits arising from the ownership of certain property (the income), but without the right to manage or dispose of it, as where a parent is providing for children too young to be able to manage property themselves. This is done by giving the property to a third person, who is called the trustee, and laying upon him the duty of managing the property and applying the profits to the use of the person to be benefited. A trust is a holding of property for another's benefit. The powers of the trustee over the property are governed by the deed or will creating the trust, and are different in different cases. Sometimes his only duty is to collect rents and pay them over; sometimes he has power to sell the land and invest the money other |