Lernzettel: Fundamentals of Property and Land Law

📋 Course Outline

1. Definition of property and ownership rights
2. Realism, possession and exclusive control
3. Treasure rules and Crown vesting
4. Deeds execution, signing and delivery
5. Trust of land occupation and matrimonial home rights
6. Joint tenancy unities and severance
7. Land registration principles and title registers

📖 1. Definition of property and ownership rights

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Property : Property is a legal aggregate of rights a person has over something, including rights of ownership and possession.
• Ownership : Ownership is the most extensive right to a thing, giving an exclusive and unrestricted power to possess, use, dispose of, and exclude others.
• Property as a relationship : Property is better understood as a power relationship a person has with a thing, not as the thing itself.
• Socially acceptable power : Property is a socially permitted form of power over a thing that society allows others to recognize and respect.

📝 Essential Points

• Ownership is described as exclusive and unrestricted, including the right to dispose of the thing in every legal way.
• Property is also used to mean the thing that is subject to ownership, whether tangible or intangible, visible or invisible.
• A key analytical warning is not to confuse control over a thing with the thing itself, because property is not the thing.
• Property can be treated as a fact, as a right, or as a responsibility, depending on the theoretical model used in the course.

💡 Memory Hook

Ownership = exclusive control: possess + use + dispose + exclude; Property = society-sanctioned power over a thing.

📖 2. Realism, possession and exclusive control

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Chose in possession : A chose in possession is a tangible form of property that can be physically held and controlled.
• Chose in action : A chose in action is an intangible form of property that exists through the legal right to claim performance.
• Ownership (de jure) : Ownership in law is the legal relationship giving the strongest rights over a thing, and it can exist without actual use or presence.
• Possession (corporeal and legal) : Possession is a technical legal status that may involve physical control, legal possession, or both, and it can exist without ownership.

📝 Essential Points

• Ownership can exist independently of facts, so you may own a thing without physically possessing it.
• Possession can be physical without legal rights, or legal without physical control, depending on the situation.
• The Roman-law distinction separates physical control (corpus) from the mental/legal element (animus) in possession.
• Exclusive control is central: possession supports the right to exclude others from interfering with the thing.

💡 Memory Hook

Possession splits into two parts: corpus (physical control) + animus (legal intent/element).

📖 3. Treasure rules and Crown vesting

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Relativity of title : Relativity of title means ownership rights in found property depend on competing claimants rather than being absolute.
• Jus tertii : Jus tertii is the right of a third party to the property that generally cannot be used as a defense by a defendant.
• Treasure : Treasure is a statutory category of old precious-metal items or specially designated older objects defined by the Treasures Act 1996.
• Crown vesting : Crown vesting is the statutory rule that title to treasure passes to the Crown when treasure is found.

📝 Essential Points

• English law generally bars defendants from relying on a third party’s title (jus tertii) as a defense in finding disputes.
• A defendant may sometimes show third-party title only if they identify who lost the property.
• Treasure under the Treasures Act 1996 includes items made with precious metal that are 300 years old, or at least two coins, or certain 200-year-old objects of outstanding archaeological or historical importance.
• When treasure is found, section 4 provides that it vests with the Crown unless the Crown renounces its right.
• A finder must notify the coroner and declare the treasure or risk committing an offense.
• Reward allocation depends on land permission and the finder’s purpose: permission gives the finder the whole reward, no permission gives the landowner the whole reward, and finding while not looking yields a 50/50 split.

💡 Memory Hook

Crown vesting = “Treasure → Crown first,” then reward splits by whether the finder had land permission.

📖 4. Deeds execution, signing and delivery

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Deed : A deed is a highly formal written instrument used to transfer a property interest under strict execution requirements.
• Law of Property Act 1989 : The Law of Property Act 1989 modernizes deed execution by abolishing the need for a seal for individuals.
• Valid execution as a deed : Valid execution is the formal signing procedure that makes an instrument operate as a deed under the statutory rules.
• Delivery of a deed : Delivery is the legal transfer of possession of the deed to another person, which can occur even if the maker keeps physical custody.

📝 Essential Points

• A seal is abolished for an individual’s valid execution of an instrument as a deed under the Law of Property Act 1989.
• An instrument is not a deed unless it states on its face that it is intended to be a deed and is validly executed.
• Valid execution requires signing by the person in the presence of a witness, or signing at the person’s direction with the presence of two witnesses.
• Delivery means giving or transferring the deed into another person’s possession, and it depends on the maker’s intention to be bound.
• If delivery is postponed until a condition is met, the property is treated as being in escrow.

💡 Memory Hook

Seal is gone (1989); deed = signed + witnessed + delivered; delivery = intention to be bound, not necessarily physical handover.

📖 5. Trust of land occupation and matrimonial home rights

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Escrow property : Escrow property is property whose transfer is postponed until a specified condition is satisfied.
• Unascertained goods : Unascertained goods are goods not yet identified or determined, so ownership cannot pass until they are ascertained.
• Ascertained goods : Ascertained goods are goods identified and made definite, so ownership can pass under the sale contract rules.
• Symbolic delivery : Symbolic delivery is delivery of property rights without physically handing over the thing, by transferring something that shows possession change.

📝 Essential Points

• Pure property transfer requires delivery, and if delivery is delayed until a condition is met the property is in escrow.
• Under the Sale of Goods Act 1979, ownership in specific goods in a deliverable state passes when the contract is made even if payment or delivery is postponed.
• If the seller must do something to put specific goods into a deliverable state, ownership does not pass until that act is done and the buyer has notice.
• If goods are delivered on approval or sale or return, ownership passes when the buyer signifies acceptance or, if no rejection notice is given, after the fixed return time or a reasonable time.

💡 Memory Hook

Escrow = “in a holding scroll”: possession is there, but ownership waits for the condition.

📖 6. Joint tenancy unities and severance

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Joint tenancy : A form of co-ownership where each joint tenant is treated as owning the whole property together.
• Tenancy in common : A form of co-ownership where each co-owner holds a distinct share that can pass by will.
• Four unities : The traditional requirements that must all be present for a joint tenancy: possession, interest, title, and time.
• Severance of joint tenancy : The act that destroys the joint tenancy so that it converts into a tenancy in common.

📝 Essential Points

• In joint tenancy, the jus accrescendi means the surviving joint tenant(s) take the whole share on a death until only one survivor remains.
• Tenancy in common allows each tenant to leave their individual share by will, so shares do not automatically pass by survivorship.
• The four unities are unity of possession, unity of interest, unity of title, and unity in time; if any is missing, the law treats it as a tenancy in common.
• A joint tenancy can be severed only intra vivos (before death); if severance is not effective before death, survivorship operates.
• Severance can occur in three ways: disposal by one joint tenant, mutual agreement, or a course of dealing showing mutual treatment as tenancy in common.
• After severance, the destruction of the unities means the co-owners hold as tenants in common, with major consequences for sale and inheritance.

💡 Memory Hook

Unities = P I T T (Possession, Interest, Title, Time); severance breaks one → survivorship stops and tenancy in common starts.

📖 7. Land registration principles and title registers

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Mirror principle : The mirror principle treats the register as a factual snapshot, so buyers rely on what is entered rather than on unregistered history or equitable claims.
• Curtain principle : The curtain principle means the register is the only legal source, so unregistered interests behind it do not bind the purchaser.
• Insurance principle : The insurance principle provides compensation if a buyer suffers loss due to a mistake or an unprotected adverse right not shown on the register.
• Title register : A title register is the structured record in the Land Registration Act system that identifies the land, the proprietor, and any charges affecting it.

📝 Essential Points

• The register must be used as the single legal source, so unregistered adverse rights generally do not affect the buyer.
• The register entry is time-precise, recording the date and even the second when the entry is created.
• A title register is split into Property Register, Proprietor Register, and Charges Register (A-B-C).
• A charge is a right someone else has over your land, even though ownership normally includes the right to exclude others.
• Under section 67 of the Land Registration Act, a copy intended to be a copy is admissible in evidence to the same extent as the original, including for court purposes.

💡 Memory Hook

Mirror=what you see is what you get; Curtain=what’s behind doesn’t count; Insurance=if it goes wrong, you’re compensated.

📅 Key Dates

Date	Event
1996	Treasure rules: Treasures Act 1996 defines treasure and provides Crown vesting (section 4)
1989	Law of Property Act 1989: abolishes the need for a seal for an individual’s valid execution of a deed
1778	Blackstone Commentaries: unity in time is part of the four unities for joint tenancy

📊 Synthesis Tables

Models of property (course-level schools)

Model	Core idea	What property is
Realism	Grounded in reality; anti-intellectual stream; possession is central	A concept tied to possession/exclusive control rather than abstract entitlement
Rights/estates theory	Property is abstract entitlement expressed through estates/interests; tenure underpins it	A socially accepted power relationship expressed as legal rights (estate/interest)
Utility	Focus on usefulness and regulated uses; power to use	A socially allowed set of overlapping uses; non-use is treated as a use

⚠️ Common Pitfalls & Confusions

1. Confusing property with the thing itself: property is a relationship/power “in” a thing, not the thing.
2. Thinking ownership requires physical possession: ownership (de jure) can exist without actual use or presence.
3. Mixing up possession and ownership in bailment: bailment turns on transfer of legal possession, not just physical custody.
4. Assuming jus tertii is always a defense in finding disputes: English law generally bars it, with narrow exceptions (e.g., identifying who lost the property).
5. Believing a deed is valid just because it is signed: it must state it is intended to be a deed and be validly executed (signed + witnessed) and delivered.
6. Treating all co-ownership as joint tenancy: missing any of the four unities converts it into a tenancy in common.
7. Assuming a lease always requires rent: the course’s “hallmarks” include exclusive possession and a term, but rent is not a requirement for a lease to exist.

✅ Exam Checklist

1. Define property as an aggregate of rights and explain the course’s warning not to confuse control over a thing with the thing itself.
2. Explain ownership as the most extensive right (exclusive and unrestricted) and property as a socially acceptable power relationship with a thing.
3. Distinguish chose in possession from chose in action, and explain how ownership (de jure) can exist without actual possession.
4. Explain possession as a technical legal status and relate the Roman-law split between corpus and animus.
5. State the core idea of relativity of title in finding disputes and the general bar on using jus tertii as a defense.
6. Apply the Treasure rules: define treasure under the Treasures Act 1996 and explain Crown vesting and the finder’s notification duty.
7. Use the reward-allocation rule for treasure based on land permission and whether the finder was looking for treasure (whole reward vs 50/50).
8. Explain deed execution under the Law of Property Act 1989: no seal for individuals, instrument must state it is intended to be a deed, and valid execution requires signing with witnesses.
9. Explain delivery of a deed as legal transfer into another person’s possession depending on intention to be bound, including the idea of escrow when delivery is conditional.
10. Explain Sale of Goods Act 1979 rules for when property passes in specific goods (deliverable state; seller must do something; approval/sale or return; unascertained/future goods).
11. Explain joint tenancy unities (possession, interest, title, time), jus accrescendi, and the three severance routes (disposal, mutual agreement, course of dealing).
12. Explain Land Registration principles (mirror, curtain, insurance) and the A-B-C structure of the title register, including what a charge is.
13. Explain the course’s lease hallmarks and Street v Mountford’s exclusive possession requirement, and distinguish tenants from lodgers (e.g., Airbnb).