| A | B |
|---|
| Title | The right of ownership in real property and the evidence of that right . an be fee simple or consist of some lesser estate or interest |
| Chain of Title | Shows how the title descended from one person/entity to another because of successive recorded deeds and documents (the recorded history of the property's title, from the original patent/grant from the government all the way down to the current owner). This is what establishes proof of ownership (not the deed itself) |
| Alienation | Word often used to indicate a transfer or title |
| Involuntary Alienation | Transfers without the owner's consent. May result from: 1. Natural Causes 2.Operation of Law 3.Court Action |
| Transfer by Natural Causes | Land may be acquired or lost through natural causes (esp when bordering a body of water). Can cause the land to grow or shrink in size |
| Accession | The acquisition of the title of this new land that has attached to the owner's property as a result of the process of accretion |
| Causes for the INCREASE in lande | 1. Accretion 2. Reliction (or dereliction) |
| Accretion | Gradual addition to land resulting from some natural force, like the action of water or wind. Can cause boundary lines to change |
| Processes of Accretion | 1. Alluvion 2. Dereliction |
| Alluvion | A form of accretion where soil gradually accumulates on land bounded by a river, lake, or other body of water as a result of action of the water |
| Alluvium | Firm ground formed by deposited soil from the process of alluvion |
| Dereliction | Process of accretion where useable land is gradually exposed when a body of water recedes and stays below its normal waterline. Basically, water permanently recedes |
| Reliction | Land revealed when water recedes (process of dereliction). Belongs to riparian owner |
| Loss of land can be caused by: | 1. Erosion 2.Avulsion |
| Erosion | The gradual wearing away of soil by the action of wind or water. Can result in property line changing |
| Avulsion | A sudden change in the land mass due to flood, earthquake, hurricane, etc. Doesn't usualy cause a change in boundary line due to loss of soil |
| Transfer by Operation of Law | An involuntary transfer of title that can be done with or without owner's consent by operation of statutory law. 5 types |
| Involuntary Transfer of Title | Transfer of title without owner's consent, called involuntary alienation |
| 5 Types of Transfer by Operation of Law | 1. Condemnation 2.Intestate Succession 3.Community Property d.Adverse Possession 5. Forfeiture of title |
| Condemnation | Government and quasi-governmental agencies can take title to real property without the owner's consent by their power of eminent domain (must be for public use; owner's muse get just compenation |
| Intestate | When a property owner dies with no will/ has an invalid will |
| Intestate Succession | When a property owner dies intestate, Estate then distributed proportionately to heirs according to the laws of descent and distribution (aka laws of succession) |
| Laws of Descent and Distribution | aka laws of succession. State laws which transfer property to the heirs of a person who dies intestate. Favor blood relatives. Priority based on closeness of relationship to decendent |
| Probate Court | Court that determines the validity of a will. Responsible for establishing the rightful heirs and the share of inheritance for each. Appoints an administrator to oversee distribution of the decedent's property |
| Executor | Person named in the will to settle estate. When no will or no person named → administrator appointed |
| Community Property | Each spouse automatically owns ½ of all property that qualifies as community property, even if deed is in severalty. If either spouse dies intestate, title to their 1/2 goes to the surviving spouse |
| Adverse Possession | State law providing for involuntary transfer of title when one person occupies another person's land without permission for the required period of time. Squatter ownership. 20 years is GA time period. Owner can order an unauthorized occupant off land at any time before all of the requirements of adverse possession have been met (they're trespassers) |
| Adverse Possession Act | allows unauthorized occupation of another person's land to be the basic of acquiring a title to it. Purpose= to insure widest possible use of privately owned lands, so that no land will lie uncared for or unwanted |
| Adverse claimant must prove the following before court will award possession: | They must prove the possession was 1.Actual 2.Hostile 3.Open 4.Notorious 5.Exclusive 6.Continuous. Any abandonment or occasional occupancy defeats it |
| Ways to shorten time in adverse possession | 1. Tacking 2. Color of Title |
| Tacking | A way to get up to the required years for adverse possession by adding their time to previous occupant's. Must be familial |
| Color of Title | Anything in writing concerning the title which suggests some plausible appearance of ownerships, no matter how imperfect the instrument (ex: claimant named grantee in a forged deed or a devisee in an invalid will. Real way to shorten time. Must also be paying taxes. Time goes down to 7 years. Now called a prescriptive title instead of adverse possession |
| Prescriptive title | When adverse claimant shortens time period of adverse possession from 20 to 7 years through color of title + paying taxes |
| Quiet title faction | Once claimant meets all requirements for adverse possession, this filed in the court to acquire the legal title |
| Transfer by Court Action | Involuntary transfer of title this way can result from: 1.a partition sale 2.a foreclosure sale 3.a quiet title action 4.forfeiture of title |
