US Property Law

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Real and Personal Property

US property law draws on the English common law tradition, distinguishing fundamentally between real property (land and interests in land) and personal property (all other property). Real property encompasses the land itself, buildings and structures permanently attached as fixtures, and rights appurtenant to the land such as easements and profits. The maxim quic quid plantatur solo, solo cedit — whatever is affixed to the soil belongs to the soil — governs the classification of fixtures, though the degree of annexation and the intention of the affixing party determine whether a chattel has become a fixture. Personal property divides into chattels real (leasehold interests, which are classified as personal property despite relating to land), chattels personal (tangible movable goods), and choses in action (intangible rights enforceable by legal action, such as shares, debts, and intellectual property). The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Article 2 governs sales of goods, defining goods as all things movable at the time of identification to the contract, while Article 9 governs security interests in personal property.

US Real Property Law — Estates in Land and Future Interests

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

US real property law, rooted in the English common law tradition, governs the acquisition, use, and transfer of interests in land. The system is characterised by its distinctive taxonomy of estates in land — abstract constructs defining the temporal scope and quality of ownership — and the future interests that accompany them. These doctrines, together with the rules governing concurrent ownership, landlord-tenant relations, adverse possession, and recording acts, constitute the core of the American law of real property.

Property Law on ExcellentWiki - Legal Encyclopedia

US Property Law

Real and Personal Property

US Real Property Law — Estates in Land and Future Interests