Property Ownership and Land Use Controls

A fee simple absolute is the highest and most complete form of ownership, of potentially unlimited duration and freely inheritable; California presumes a grant conveys fee simple unless a lesser estate is stated.

A life estate lasts only for the duration of a measuring life, after which the property passes to a remainderman or reverts to the grantor.

Leasehold estates, such as an estate for years with a fixed term and a periodic tenancy that renews until notice, give possession without ownership of the freehold.

Joint tenancy carries the right of survivorship and requires the four unities of time, title, interest, and possession; a deceased joint tenant's share passes to the survivors, not to heirs.

Tenants in common may hold unequal, freely transferable shares with no survivorship, and each share passes to that owner's heirs at death.

Property acquired by either spouse during marriage other than by gift or inheritance is presumed community property, owned equally; community property with right of survivorship adds survivorship and a full basis step-up.

Ownership in severalty means title is held by one individual or single entity alone.

Every lien is an encumbrance, but non-monetary encumbrances such as easements and deed restrictions are not liens.

A mechanic's lien is a specific, involuntary lien available to contractors and suppliers who improve property and are not paid, and must be recorded and enforced within statutory time limits.

The homestead exemption shields a portion of a homeowner's equity in a principal residence from most unsecured judgment creditors, but not from voluntary lienholders or tax liens.

An easement appurtenant benefits a dominant tenement and burdens a servient tenement, running with the land; an easement in gross benefits a person or entity with no dominant parcel.

An easement by prescription arises from open, continuous, and hostile use of another's land for the statutory period.

An encroachment is an unauthorized physical intrusion of a structure onto another's land, which can cloud title and reduce marketability.

CC&Rs are private deed restrictions that run with the land and are enforced by the homeowners association or other lot owners.

Zoning is a public land-use control imposed by government, distinct from private deed restrictions.

Adverse possession in California requires open, notorious, hostile, exclusive, and continuous occupation plus payment of property taxes for five years.