Fee Simple Absolute

When you purchase a property, you purchase it under what is called "fee simple absolute." This just means that you have full ownership privileges in a property.

But there are other estates or interests that you can have in property that are much more complicated. There are three interests that you may have in property that are always a little more complicated.

Concurrent Estates

Concurrent Estates occurs when two or more people own real property at the same time. There are three common forms of concurrent estates. They are:

Concurrent Estate	Definition	Example
Tenancy in Common	Two or more people holding equal interest in a property, but with no right of survivorship.	A deed may say "To Professor Lizzette Herrera and Oprah Winfrey." Oprah owns 50% of the property and Professor Herrera owns 50% of the property. Each tenant can sell her portion of the property. We can even partition the property where we divide it in half so Oprah gets a portion of the property and Professor Herrera gets a portion of the property.
Joint Tenancy	Two or more people holding equal interest in a property, with the right of survivorship.	Captain America and I own a house in joint tenancy. If something happens to Captain America and he does not make it in a battle with the evil Thanos, his interest in the property will pass to me because of the right of survivorship. But if while he is still alive, Captain America files for a partition of the joint tenancy and he gives his rights in the property to Tony Stark, Tony Stark and I become Tenants in Common, NOT joint tenants.
Tenancy by the Entirety	A system of ownership of marital property in which each spouse owns the entire estate.	Justin Timberlake finally realizes I am the love of his life (Jessica Biel who?) and marries me. We purchase a house in Hawaii (one of the few states that recognizes tenancy by the entirety). Justin owns 100% of the house and I own 100% of the house. We cannot partition the property as a married couple. If I should leave Justin widowed, he would inherit my interest in the property.
Community Property	This is a system of ownership or marital property in which assets earned during the marriage are owned jointly by the spouses.	California is a community property state so all property acquired during the course of marriage is considered to be the property of both spouses, regardless of the way title is held. In California, there is a hybrid version of Joint Tenancy called "Community Property with Right of Survivorship."

Future Interests

Future Interests occur when a right is given to another person but the remaining rights are called future interests. There are two types of future interests:

Future Interest	Definition	Example
Reversion	The right of an owner (or her heirs) to property upon the death of a life tenant.	I convey my Hawaii property "to Colin Kaepernick for life." What else has that guy got to do right now? So he is allowed to live on my Hawaii property until he dies and then it reverts back to me. I have a reversion interest in the property once he dies.
Remainder	The right of a third person to property upon the death of a life tenant.	I convey my Hawaii property "to Colin Kaepernick for life, and then to Joe Montana." Colin has a life estate in the property. Joe Montana has a remainder interest.

Non-Possessory Interests

These interests never involve possession but are still valuable. Nonpossessory interests include:

Nonpossessory Interest	Definition	Example
Easement	The right to cross or use someone else's land for a particular purpose.	You have no way to get onto your property unless you cross through Phillip Rivers property to get to your house. You will have an easement by necessity over a portion of Phillip Rivers' land because you need to get to your house. (It's not like Phillip Rivers is there that often since the Chargers moved to LA and now he got picked up by the Indianapolis Colts.)
Profit	The right to enter land belonging to another and take something from it.	You are planting a tree on your property one day and you strike oil. You sell a profit to a local company to come on your property and take up all the oil.
License	The right to temporarily enter land belonging to another.	I buy a ticket to watch a baseball game at Petco Park. That ticket is a license to enter the premises.
Mortgage	A security interest in real property.	This may not seem like a nonpossessory interest but unless you pay cash for your home, the bank has an interest in your home. If you do not pay your mortgage, the bank may foreclose on your home.