Ch. 2: Estates And Interests In Land

Front 1

Life Estate

Back 1

- Lasts for lifetime only

- Reverts to "remainderman" (specified) or fee simple owner "reversioner" after death

- Of uncertain duration

Front 2

Estate pur autre vie

Back 2

- Duration of life estate is based on the life of someone other than person who acquires the life estate

Eg. To Jodi for as long as Maggie is alive.

Front 3

Rights and obligations of Life Tenant

Back 3

- Remainderman responsible for repairs, fire insurance, & principle due under mortgage

- Life tenant responsible for operational expenses & interest under mortgage

- Life tenant entitled to income from property

Front 4

Waste (Life Estate)

Back 4

Permissive - deterioration

Voluntary - acts which damage property

Amelioration - positive acts which improve property

Equitable - malicious destruction of property

Front 5

Nemo day quod non habet (Life Estate)

Back 5

Latin for: You cannot give what you do not have

In terms of Life estates, you cannot transfer a greater interest in land than you have. Therefore, a life tenant may give away life tenancy but cannot give fee simple interest to another.

Front 6

Easements

Back 6

- Use acquired for the benefit of one piece of land over the land of another

- Dominant and servient tenement

- Created expressly by agreement of owner(s), by statute, by implication (common intention of parties), or by prescription (habitual use recognized)

- Recorded in land registry

Front 7

Restrictive Convenants

Back 7

- A restriction on the use of a piece of land owned by a covenantor for the benefit of another piece of land owned by a convenantee.

- Must be negative in nature (eg. may not place concrete statues on front lawn)

- Building schemes are a form of restrictive covenant

Front 8

Profits A Prendre

Back 8

- The right to remove naturally occurring goods off a piece of land

Eg. Timber rights

Front 9

Joint Tenants

Back 9

- Right of survivorship: When a joint tenant dies, their right passes to the surviving joint tenant(s)

- Four unities: Possession, time, title, and interest

- Can transfer interest while living but not by will

- Can sever through unilateral act, mutual agreement, and by consent

Front 10

Four Unities of Joint Tenancy

Back 10

Unity of Possession: Each interest is an undivided interest of the whole property.

Unity of Time: All joint tenants received their interest in property at the same time.

Unity of Title: All joint tenants receive their interest from the same documents.

Unity of Interest: All joint tenant have the same kind of interest in land.

Front 11

Severing a Joint Tenancy

Back 11

- Unilateral act by one of the joint tenants

- By mutual agreement

- By a course of dealing (mutual) sufficient to indicate that the parties considered their joint tenancy to have been severed.

Front 12

Tenants in Common:

Back 12

- 2 or more own an interest and are entitled to possession of property

- can have unequal shares

- no right of survivorship and they may be disposed of by will

Front 13

Terminating a Tenancy in Common

Back 13

- By an agreement between the parties for one tenant to purchase interests of all other tenants

- By an agreement between parties to sell the whole interest to a third party

- By court order

Front 14

Partition

Back 14

Partition is the physical division of a property between co-owners so that each becomes an owner separately of a particular part.

Front 15

Fixtures vs. Chattels

Back 15

Fixtures are affixed to the land. Chattels are affixed to the land only by their own weight.

Test/Criteria considered by courts:

1. Degree of Affixation

2. Purpose of Affixation

Front 16

Airspace

Back 16

- Right is limited to what owner can effectively use

- Can be part of a strata title & registered

Front 17

Subsurface Rights & Water Rights

Back 17

Subsurface rights are reserved in favour of the Crown.

Water rights are controlled by legislation.

Front 18

Licences

Back 18

- Allows licensed parties to use land for a specific purpose

- Does NOT run with the Land

- Enforceable only between contracting parties, not successors

- Do grant exclusive possession

Front 19

Right to Support for Land

Back 19

A property owner has the right not to have vertical or lateral support for his or her land interfered with by owners of neighbouring properties.