Key Terms
Property
Tangible and intangible items that can be owned.
Ownership
The right to exclude others.
Real property
Land and things attached to or associated with it. Includes undeveloped land, buildings, mineral rights.
Personal property
Any property that is NOT real property.
Tangible property
Property that can be touched.
Chattel
Moveable, tangible personal property.
Fungible property
Property easily substituted with identical property.
Examples
Juices, oil, steel, aluminum, physical currency.
Intangible property
Does not physically exist but is still subject to ownership, acquisition, transfer, and sale. Examples: right to payment
Private property
Owned by an individual, corporation, or partnership (any non-government entity). Can be real or personal.
Public property
Owned by the government. Can be real or personal.
Fixture
Personal property that has been attached to land and is now legally part of the land; treated as real property.
Rule
When real property transfers, fixtures transfer with it.
Example
Granting a parent the right to live in a house for the rest of their life; property returns to you upon the parent's dea
Ownership by production
You produce something, you own it. EXCEPTION: if an employee produces a good as part of their job, the EMPLOYER owns it,