Estates

Estates in United States

Estates Definition

The quantum and duration of proprietary rights in lands, tenements, and hereditaments; the theory of the common law being that the tenant or owner is entitled to an estate in the land rather than to the land iself. This doctrine of estates was not found in the Roman law, or the systems derived therefrom, and apparently owes its place in our law to the prevalence in England of the feudal system of tenures, by which the tenant was regarded as having interest short of absolute ownership, the landlord having a possibility of a reversion to him by the termination of the tenant’s interest. Tiffany, Real Prop. § 17. The various estates, classified with reference to their quantum or duration, may be tabulated as follows:
I. Freehold estates.
A. Estates of inheritance.
(1) Pee simple.
(2) Fee tail.,
B. Estates not of inheritance (life estates).
(1) Conventional life estates.
(a) Estates for life of the tenant.
(b) Estates pur autre vie.
(2) Legal life estates.
(d) Tenancy in tail after possibility of issue extinct.
(b) Dower.
(c) Curtesy.
(d) Estate during coverture. II. Estates less than freehold (leasehold estates, chattels real).
A. Estates for years.
B. Tenancy at will.
C Tenancy from year to year.
D. Tenancy by sufferance.
Estates classified according as they give rights of present or future enjoyment are:
I. Present estates.
II. Future estates.
A. Reversions.
B. Remainders.
C. Contingent uses.
D. Springing uses.
E. Shifting uses.
F. Executory devises. Classified according as they are owned by one or more persons, and according to the nature of the rights of several owners, they are:
I. Estates in severalty.
II. Joint estates.
A. Joint tenancy.
B. Tenancy in common.
C. Tenancy in coparcenary.
D. Tenancy in entirety.
Freehold. An estate of freehold la one which is to endure for an uncertain period, which must, or at least may, last during the life of some person. Estate of Inheritance. An estate of inheritance is any estate which may descend to heirs. 1 Washb. Real Prop. 51. All freehold estates are estates of inheritance except estates for life. Crabb, Real Prop. § 945. Estates In Fee Simple. An estate in fee simple is that which a man has where lands are given to him and to his heirs absolutely, without any end or limit put to his estate. 2 Bl. Comm. 106; 1 Washb. Real Prop. 51. The word “simple” does not add any significance, but is used to mark fully the distinction between an unqualified fee and any class of conditional estates. Estate In Fee Tail. An estate in fee tail or estate tail is an estate of inheritance which, if left to itself, will, after the death of the first owner, descend to his lawful issue as long as his posterity endures in a regular order of descent from one to another, and will terminate on the failure of such posterity. It derives its existence from the statute de donis (q. v.) Estate for Life. An estate for life is a freehold interest which cannot extend beyond the life or lives of some particular person or persons, but which may possibly endure for the period of such life or lives. The estate is generally for the tenant’s own life, but made for the life of another person or persons, in which case it is called an estate pur autre vie. Tenancy In Tail after Possibility of Issue Extinct. Tenancy in tail after possibility of issue extinct is where, upon the death of the appointed wife of a donee in special tail, or of one of two donees in special tail without issue living, the donee or survivor of the two donees takes for his life, possibility of issue being extinct. Dower. An estate in dower is an estate which a widow has for her life in some portion of the lands and tenements of which her husband was seised at any time during coverture, and which her issue might have inherited if she had had any. 1 Washb. Real Prop. 149; 2 Bl. Comm. 129; 4 Kent, Comm. 41. See “Dower.” Curtesy. An estate by curtesy is that estate to which a husband is entitled upon the death of his wife in the lands or tenements of which she was seised in fee in possession during their coverture, provided they have had lawful issue born alive, and possibly capable of inheriting her estate. 1 Washb. Real Prop. 128; Co. Litt. 30a; 2 Bl. Comm. 126. See “Curtesy.” Estate during Coverture. An estate during coverture is that right or interest which a husband or wife has during coverture in the lands and tenements of his or her spouse. Estate for Years. An estate for years is an interest in lands by virtue of a contract for the possession of them for a definite and limited period of time. 2 Bl. Comm. 140. See “Tenancy.” Tenancy at Will. An estate at will is an estate in lands which the tenant has, by entry made thereon under a demise, to hold during the joint wills of the parties to the same. 2 Bl. Comm. 145. See “Tenancy.” Tenancy from Year to Year. A tenancy from year to year is an interest in lands for a term of one year certain, continuing for successive years, unless due notice be given to determine it at the end of the first or any subsequent year. See “Tenancy.” rTenancy by Sufferance. An estate at sufferance is the interest of a tenant who has come rightfully into the possession of lands by permission of the owner, and continues to occupy the same after the period for which he is entitled to hold by such permission, 1 Washb. Real Prop. 392. See “Tenancy.” Estate in Possession. An estate in possession is an estate where the tenant is in actual possession of the premises, or in receipt of the rents and other advances arising therefrom. 2 Bl. Comm. 163. Estate in Expectancy. An estate in expectancy is one giving a present or vested contingent right of future enjoyment. See “Expectancy.” Reversion. An estate in reversion is the residue of an estate left in the grantor to commence in possession after the determination of some particular estate granted out by him. 2 Bl. Comm. 175. See “Reversion.” Remainders. An estate in’ remainder is an estate limited to take effect in possession or in enjoyment, or in both, subject to a term of years or contingent interest to intervene, which intermediate interest is created by the same instrument out of the same subject of property. 2 Fearne, Cont. Rem. § 159. See “Remainder.” Springing, Shifting, and Contingent Uses. See “Uses.” Executory Devises. See “Devise.” Estate In Severalty, An estate in severalty is one held by a person in his own right, without any other person being joined or connected with him in point of interest during his estate. 2 Bl. Comm. 179. Joint Estate. A joint estate is one In which two or more persons are joined in interest. Joint Tenancy. An estate of joint tenancy is that which subsists where several persons have any subject of property jointly between them in equal shares by purchase. 1 Bl. Comm. 180; Williams, Real Prop. 112. There must be unity of time, title, interest, and possession. See “Joint Tenants.” Tenancy in Common. An estate In common one held in joint possession by two or more persons at the same time by several and distinct titles. This estate has the single unity of possession. 2 Bl. Comm. 191; 4 Kent, Comm. 366. See “Tenants in Common.” Estate in Coparcenary, An estate which several persons hold as one heir, whether male or female. This estate has unity of time, title and possession, but the interest of the coparceners may be unequal. 2 Bl. Comm. 188; 4 Kent, Comm. 366. Tenancy in Entirety. The estate arising on a conveyance to a man and his wife jointly. They are seised, not of moieties, but of entireties. (1)

Estates Planning & Probate

Estates in Land and Deeds Explained

References

See Also

  • Property

Resources

Notes

This definition of Estates is based on The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary. This entry needs to be proofread.

Further Reading

Primary Law

Internal Revenue Code
Treasury Regulations
Enacted Public Laws
Congressional Bills
Congressional Record
IRS Combined Releases
Federal Cases
State Cases (Multistate)
State Administrative Rulings (Multistate)

Analytical Materials

Koren – Estate and Personal Financial Planning
Bogert: Trusts and Trustees
Asset Protection: Domestic and International Law and Tactics
Family Estate Planning Guide
Restatement of the Law – Trusts
Law Reviews, Texts & Bar Journals Combined

WG&L Materials

WGL Combined Estate Planning Treatises (22 treatises)
Estate Planning Journal

RIA Materials

RIA Estate Planners Alert
RIA Estate Planning Collection Complete
RIA Estate Planning Analysis
RIA Estate State Summaries
RIA Estate Planning
RIA Estate Checklists
RIA Estate Client Letters
RIA Estate IRS Sample Correspondence
RIA Wills & Trusts Forms & Clauses
RIA Estate Filled In Forms
RIA – International Estate Tax Treaties and Explanations
RIA TAPS – Estate & Gift Tax Planning for the Business Owner
RIA TAPS – Post-Mortem Estate Planning
RIA United States Tax Reporter – Estate Materials

Tax Management Materials

Estate, Gifts & Trusts Portfolio Series
Estate, Gifts and Trusts Journal


Posted

in

,

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *