Estates and Interests Real property refers to land and anything affixed to it. Buildings are fixtures. Anything attached to buildings or otherwise attached to land such as to be a permanent part of it and likely to cause damage if removed is a fixture. There are special rules foe tenant’s trade fixtures, which may be removed by the tenant at […]
The Fee Simple The fee simple estate in possession, sometimes described as a fee simple absolute or a freehold estate, is the most extensive ownership known to the law. It is, by definition, free of incidents (condition and limitations) of the type that apply to other estates. In modern times, it is the most common and most desired ownership interest. […]
Freehold Legal Estate Prior to the 2009 legislation, a great variety of legal estates could, in theory, exist. Most of those rights have now been transformed into rights under a deemed trust so that the relevant property is generally capable of being sold free from such rights, which may accordingly, attach to the proceeds of a sale. It is a […]
Family Settlements Life estates and future interests were a common feature of landed estates. The landed estate itself was typically “settled” and resettled, generation after generation so that the current owner typically held it for life with subsequent interests vested in his children. Widows were commonly granted life estates in their deceased husband’s property with the remainder (future interest) vesting […]
Life Estate A life estate is an interest or right in land that subsists for the life of the grantee only. A variant is an estate which lasts for the life of a third-party, and which is measured by that life, and a life estate pur autre vie, in the Norman French. Life estates may subsist only as an equitable […]
Future Interests and their Control Future interests in land are those which take effect and commence in the future. The interest may be vested in the sense that its extent and holder are ascertained, and will become enjoyed in possession in the future. Therefore, a person entitled to the freehold after the death of the existing life tenant, has a vested […]
Fee Farm Grants Fee farm grants are effectively freehold interests subject to rents and covenants. They are leases for ever. They are relatively common in Ireland when compared with other common law jurisdictions. The 2009 Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act prohibits the creation of new fee farm grants. If an attempt is made to create a fee farm grant, […]
Land Registration Registration involves a State guaranteed title entered on a central register. Land registration and registration of title were introduced in England and Ireland at the end of the 19th Century. In Ireland, the Land Registry became important in property law as the Land Commission purchased out the freehold interest of almost all agricultural land and vested it in […]