Glass
20th September 2011, 01:56 AM
With regard to land, this is more relevant to Commonwealth countries than the US because of the type of head of state and base title structure.
This is an interesting look at Fee Simple titles and how they work. How they compare to other "newer" types of titles.
Since about 1948 most commonwealth states have had a Land Administration act in place that converts Fee Simple title to a Freehold or even lower standard of title. The material is from a PDF linked below. There is much more info in the PDF.
It even gives some clues as to how someone might be able to claim crown land to their control and possibly in fee simple. I thought the information on things like assurances as a claim to land was very interesting.
A Grant in Fee Simple Title
The Abolition of Tenures Act 1660
In 1660, the Crown, at that time King Charles II, could no longer afford the upkeep of land and services to His subjects therefore he abolished old tenures and allowed a statute law to be enacted for the sale of the lands of the Crown.
Original Letters Patent to Governor Philip
In the early days of the colony at Botany Bay, Governor Philip could only transfer the ownership from the Crown to the original settlers after nominating a parcel of land. This then had to be surveyed, and given a Lot number for identification.
Register of Lots
The officers of the Crown had then to make entries in the register of Lots. The title deed that ensued carried a Volume number, folio number and the Lot numbers.
A Grant in Fee Simple Title Deed
All land in Australia was sold into private hands through a Grant in Fee Simple Title. The new owner of this title was required to hold a Deed.
The original deeds were signed by the Governor of the State, after first determining that all purchase monies had been paid. “Now Know Ye that for and in consideration of the said sum for and on Our behalf well and truly paid into the Treasury of Our said State before these Presents are issued and of all and singular the premises, WE HAVE GRANTED and for Us Our heirs and Successors DO HEREBY GRANT unto the said H.W.T, Heirs and Assigns.......subject nevertheless to the several and respective reservations hereinafter contained that We do Reserve unto Us Our Heirs and Successors all minerals…..”
The Governor signed “In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name and affixed my Seal….”
This then, is a very legal Instrument of Law, a Contract with not just with the Crown via the Seal, but with the actual Sovereign Majesty, his/her Heirs and Successors.
This Instrument is a Deed in Trust with the current Queen Elizabeth as the Successor to the Crown; it is a Trust in Inheritance and a Trust in Equity. That means that the act of purchase of a Grant in Fee Simple Title carries the right to pass on the estate through an Inheritance, a right which is protected by the Constitutional courts of Australia.
A Trust in Equity is the purchaser’s right to retain his equity (equality) of value in his land. So that when the Parliament requires the resumption of the land the Crown has sold, it must be under Just Terms Compensation.
What does a Grant in Fee Simple Title give us?
There are 4 elements of ownership that are carried in a Fee Simple Title Deed.
1. The purchase of any structures or buildings that are on the land - tenements
2. The right to build any structures of any kind on the land - messuages
3. The right of ownership of all natural elements on the land, to an indefinite extent
above the land, and to the very centre of the earth – corporeal hereditaments
4. The right to use the land in any manner including to waste the land. (Waste
being a legal term meaning to take back to bare rock or destroy) – incorporeal
hereditaments
The rights DO NOT include:
1. Ownership of any water on the land as water cannot be owned, as it is moveable. You have only the use of the water while it is on the land.
2. The right to injure a neighbour’s enjoyment and use of his property.
3. The right to trespass on another’s land without his permission.
Proprietorship of a Grant in Fee Simple Title
This is the legal term for our ownership. We are proprietors of the Fee Simple Grant. Which means we operate the Title
during the period of our ownership. Our proprietory rights are often called ‘natural rights’. We hold a Proprietas plena – full property, including not only the title, but the usufruct, or exclusive right to the use.
Proprietorship of a Grant in Fee Simple Title
This is the legal term for our ownership. We are proprietors of the Fee Simple Grant. Which means we operate the Title during the period of our ownership. Our proprietory rights are often called ‘natural rights’.
We hold a Proprietas plena – full property, including not only the title, but the usufruct (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usufruct), or exclusive right to the use.
Tenants in Common
Our Grant in Fee Simple Title deed lists the new owner as a Tenant in Common. This refers to the fact that we share an Interest in the land with the Crown through the reservation of the minerals.
However the only right the Crown reserves is that listed on the Title Deeds. Also, in the event that we die without heirs, the Crown resumes sole ownership of the land (escheat).
The reference to Common is verification that our land ownership is a Common Law element, so removing Common Law or Old System Title would indicate that these are attempts to remove proof of our Common Law tenancy with the Crown in the form of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her Heirs and Successors – who are not Parliaments.
Can Part of a Fee Simple Grant be Sold?
No. The elements of ownership in a Grant in Fee Simple Title are attached to the land itself. We simply manage that
ownership for a period of time. To sell land with one or more elements removed is to sell something completely different.
And to then call the land title Fee Simple would be fraudulent.
For example, one owner may place natural elements of land under a covenant, removing these elements from ownership use, however at the moment a sale is completed the new owner has the return of all rights inherent in the Title.
These rights are not the owner’s to remove or separate, they belong to the land. It has been said that we simply attach ourselves to the immense rights for the period of ownership.
What is Freehold Title?
Many people believe they own their land under a Freehold Title. They do not! However, Public servants and the documents they provide sometimes use the expression Freehold for land ownership because it does not carry the rights of the true title of Fee Simple.
A Freehold Title only gives the owner the right to buy, sell and inherit land – no other rights are included. Freehold is a part of the Fee Simple Title, the expression being ‘mergeable therein.’
There are also some references to trespass court cases which are interesting.
I think there is some good information here (http://www.clrg.info/wp-content/uploads/Flora-News-Dec-2008-Fee-Simple-Explained.pdf).
http://www.clrg.info/wp-content/uploads/Flora-News-Dec-2008-Fee-Simple-Explained.pdf
There is a second PDF on Land Ownership rights in Australian Common Law (http://www.clrg.info/wp-content/uploads/FLORA-Freedom-Land-Ownership-Rights-in-Australia-Common-Law.pdf). I have not read that one yet.
thanks to CRLG.
This is an interesting look at Fee Simple titles and how they work. How they compare to other "newer" types of titles.
Since about 1948 most commonwealth states have had a Land Administration act in place that converts Fee Simple title to a Freehold or even lower standard of title. The material is from a PDF linked below. There is much more info in the PDF.
It even gives some clues as to how someone might be able to claim crown land to their control and possibly in fee simple. I thought the information on things like assurances as a claim to land was very interesting.
A Grant in Fee Simple Title
The Abolition of Tenures Act 1660
In 1660, the Crown, at that time King Charles II, could no longer afford the upkeep of land and services to His subjects therefore he abolished old tenures and allowed a statute law to be enacted for the sale of the lands of the Crown.
Original Letters Patent to Governor Philip
In the early days of the colony at Botany Bay, Governor Philip could only transfer the ownership from the Crown to the original settlers after nominating a parcel of land. This then had to be surveyed, and given a Lot number for identification.
Register of Lots
The officers of the Crown had then to make entries in the register of Lots. The title deed that ensued carried a Volume number, folio number and the Lot numbers.
A Grant in Fee Simple Title Deed
All land in Australia was sold into private hands through a Grant in Fee Simple Title. The new owner of this title was required to hold a Deed.
The original deeds were signed by the Governor of the State, after first determining that all purchase monies had been paid. “Now Know Ye that for and in consideration of the said sum for and on Our behalf well and truly paid into the Treasury of Our said State before these Presents are issued and of all and singular the premises, WE HAVE GRANTED and for Us Our heirs and Successors DO HEREBY GRANT unto the said H.W.T, Heirs and Assigns.......subject nevertheless to the several and respective reservations hereinafter contained that We do Reserve unto Us Our Heirs and Successors all minerals…..”
The Governor signed “In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name and affixed my Seal….”
This then, is a very legal Instrument of Law, a Contract with not just with the Crown via the Seal, but with the actual Sovereign Majesty, his/her Heirs and Successors.
This Instrument is a Deed in Trust with the current Queen Elizabeth as the Successor to the Crown; it is a Trust in Inheritance and a Trust in Equity. That means that the act of purchase of a Grant in Fee Simple Title carries the right to pass on the estate through an Inheritance, a right which is protected by the Constitutional courts of Australia.
A Trust in Equity is the purchaser’s right to retain his equity (equality) of value in his land. So that when the Parliament requires the resumption of the land the Crown has sold, it must be under Just Terms Compensation.
What does a Grant in Fee Simple Title give us?
There are 4 elements of ownership that are carried in a Fee Simple Title Deed.
1. The purchase of any structures or buildings that are on the land - tenements
2. The right to build any structures of any kind on the land - messuages
3. The right of ownership of all natural elements on the land, to an indefinite extent
above the land, and to the very centre of the earth – corporeal hereditaments
4. The right to use the land in any manner including to waste the land. (Waste
being a legal term meaning to take back to bare rock or destroy) – incorporeal
hereditaments
The rights DO NOT include:
1. Ownership of any water on the land as water cannot be owned, as it is moveable. You have only the use of the water while it is on the land.
2. The right to injure a neighbour’s enjoyment and use of his property.
3. The right to trespass on another’s land without his permission.
Proprietorship of a Grant in Fee Simple Title
This is the legal term for our ownership. We are proprietors of the Fee Simple Grant. Which means we operate the Title
during the period of our ownership. Our proprietory rights are often called ‘natural rights’. We hold a Proprietas plena – full property, including not only the title, but the usufruct, or exclusive right to the use.
Proprietorship of a Grant in Fee Simple Title
This is the legal term for our ownership. We are proprietors of the Fee Simple Grant. Which means we operate the Title during the period of our ownership. Our proprietory rights are often called ‘natural rights’.
We hold a Proprietas plena – full property, including not only the title, but the usufruct (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usufruct), or exclusive right to the use.
Tenants in Common
Our Grant in Fee Simple Title deed lists the new owner as a Tenant in Common. This refers to the fact that we share an Interest in the land with the Crown through the reservation of the minerals.
However the only right the Crown reserves is that listed on the Title Deeds. Also, in the event that we die without heirs, the Crown resumes sole ownership of the land (escheat).
The reference to Common is verification that our land ownership is a Common Law element, so removing Common Law or Old System Title would indicate that these are attempts to remove proof of our Common Law tenancy with the Crown in the form of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her Heirs and Successors – who are not Parliaments.
Can Part of a Fee Simple Grant be Sold?
No. The elements of ownership in a Grant in Fee Simple Title are attached to the land itself. We simply manage that
ownership for a period of time. To sell land with one or more elements removed is to sell something completely different.
And to then call the land title Fee Simple would be fraudulent.
For example, one owner may place natural elements of land under a covenant, removing these elements from ownership use, however at the moment a sale is completed the new owner has the return of all rights inherent in the Title.
These rights are not the owner’s to remove or separate, they belong to the land. It has been said that we simply attach ourselves to the immense rights for the period of ownership.
What is Freehold Title?
Many people believe they own their land under a Freehold Title. They do not! However, Public servants and the documents they provide sometimes use the expression Freehold for land ownership because it does not carry the rights of the true title of Fee Simple.
A Freehold Title only gives the owner the right to buy, sell and inherit land – no other rights are included. Freehold is a part of the Fee Simple Title, the expression being ‘mergeable therein.’
There are also some references to trespass court cases which are interesting.
I think there is some good information here (http://www.clrg.info/wp-content/uploads/Flora-News-Dec-2008-Fee-Simple-Explained.pdf).
http://www.clrg.info/wp-content/uploads/Flora-News-Dec-2008-Fee-Simple-Explained.pdf
There is a second PDF on Land Ownership rights in Australian Common Law (http://www.clrg.info/wp-content/uploads/FLORA-Freedom-Land-Ownership-Rights-in-Australia-Common-Law.pdf). I have not read that one yet.
thanks to CRLG.