360. An Estate is the specific estate's degree of interest or right of property that one has in lands. It embraces three elements: (1) the right of possession, (2) the right of enjoyment, and (3) the right of disposition-subject to the right of the state to appropriate it to the public use. Estates possess the characteristics of (1) quantity or duration of interest, (2) quality of the interest, (3) time of enjoyment, and (4) number of owners. As to quantity or duration, estates are divided into freeholds-those

which endure for an uncertain period which, at least, may last during the life; and estates less than freeholds-which comprise the chattel interests in lands, such as leaseholds.

361. Freeholds. These are divided into estates of inheritance and those not of inheritance.

1. Inheritance. An estate of inheritance is one which, upon the death of the owner, either passes by descent to his heirs, or, under the provisions of his will, to his devisees. First in importance among estates of inheritance is the fee simple absolute, which is the highest estate known to the law. It is an inheritable freehold, free from condition and of indefinite duration. Other estates of inheritance are the determinable fees which are burdened with some clog, condition, or qualification that may operate to defeat or terminate the estate.

2. Non-Inheritance. Estates not of inheritance comprise all freeholds known as life estates. These may be created by agreement, or arise out of the marriage relation. The most important of those created by agreement is the estate for the owner's own life. Less important is the estate to be held for the life of another and the estate which may last for a life, as an estate during widowhood only. Of those arising from the marriage relation, the principal ones are dower, curtesy, and homestead.

(a) Dower. This is the estate which the law provides for the wife out of the real property of the husband. During his life it is but an inchoate right, but upon his death she becomes entitled to an estate for life in one-third of the lands of which he was possessed of an estate of inheritance during the marriage, and in which she has not released her dower right. While he is alive she can convey her right only by joining in a deed with him, or releasing to his grantee. After the husband's death and assignment of dower to the widow, she can convey the dower estate as freely as any other.

(b) Curtesy. This is a life estate created by operation of law for the husband in the lands of which the wife was possessed of an estate of inheritance during the marriage relation. This

estate becomes initiate upon the birth of issue born alive and capable of inheriting the estate, and takes effect in possession upon the death of the wife. In some of the states curtesy has been abolished by statute, and in its place the husband is given an estate similar to dower.

(c) The Homestead. This estate did not exist at common law; it is purely of statutory origin. The object of its creation is to provide for the family a home which shall be exempt from levy and sale under execution for the debts of the head of the family. The exemption rests upon public policy, and is not given from sympathy or charity. The estate is a life estate in its main features. It is generally provided that it shall be for the life of the householder, to the surviving husband or wife, and to the children during minority. The value of the property that may be claimed as a homestead is generally limited by the statute creating it. This varies in different states from $1,000 to $2,000 or thereabouts. The homestead estate may be lost or extinguished in two ways-by conveyance, and by abandonment with intention not to return. It is generally required that the conveyance, to be effective, must contain an express release of the homestead by both husband and wife and be acknowledged by both.

362. Incidents. A life tenant cannot claim compensation for permanent improvements made by him during his tenancy. He is presumed to have made them for his own benefit and convenience. He is bound to keep the premises in ordinary repair, and for this purpose he may cut a reasonable amount of timber for the repair of buildings and fences. He is also entitled to wood for fuel. The tenant, however, must not commit waste, which consists of any permanent and material injury or improper use of the property that impairs the rights of the owner of the fee. He may operate mines or pits already opened, but opening new ones constitutes waste. Upon his death, his administrator may claim emblements. (See Chap. XLVII Landlord and Tenant.)

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363. Number of Owners. As to number of owners, estates are classified as estates in severalty and joint estates.

1. Estates in Severalty. An estate in severalty is one of which there is but a single owner, who holds and enjoys it to the exclusion of all the world.

2. Joint Estates. A joint estate is one the title to which is vested in two or more persons.

Of joint estates there are five; viz., joint tenancies, tenancies in common, estates in coparcenary, estates by the entirety, and partnership estates.

(a) Joint Tenancies. A joint tenancy is a joint estate in which all of the co-tenants have one and the same interest, acquired at one and the same time, by one and the same instrument, held by one and the same possession. During their lives they equally enjoy the land or its equivalent in rents and profits. Upon the death of one, his share vests in the survivor or survivors, and so on until there is but one tenant, who then holds the estate in severalty; upon his death it descends to his heirs. This is known as the doctrine of survivorship. A joint tenancy cannot be acquired by descent; it can be created only by purchase, and may be in fee, for life or for years. Because of the peculiar doctrine of survivorship, American law is unfavorable to joint tenancies and favorable to tenancies in common, wherein the heirs of a deceased co-tenant take and not the surviving tenants. However, joint tenancies among trustees and other persons holding in a fiduciary capacity are still looked upon favorably. While a joint tenant's interest is not devisable or descendable, he may alienate his share to a stranger who will hold as a tenant in common with the other joint tenants that continue to hold in joint tenancy.

(b) Tenancies in Common. Joint estates in which there is unity of possession, but the titles may be separate and distinct and the interests different. If the estate is in fee, a tenant may dispose of his interest by will, or it will pass by inheritance to his heirs.

(c) Estates in Coparcenary. Tenancy in coparcenary was the joint estate which at common law vested by descent in the heirs of an intestate-one who had died without leaving a will. The estate is now obsolete, being superseded by tenancy in

common.

(d) Estates in Entirety. Estate by the entirety arose at common law by conveyances to a man and wife jointly. They were not seized of the land by halves, but by entireties. The modern so-called "Married Women's Acts" are generally held to have abolished these estates by inference, since the two are entirely inconsistent.

(e) Partnership Estates. An estate in partnership is a joint estate vested in the members of a partnership, purchased with partnership funds for partnership purposes. In equity the estate is treated as personal property liable for the partnership debts in preference to individual claims; but, in this country, after the payment of partnership debts, the remainder of the realty, or the proceeds of its sale, is treated as real property passing to the heir or devisee, and subject to the widow's dower.

Partition is the act of dividing joint estates into estates in severalty among the co-tenants in proportion to their undivided shares in the joint estate. All joint estates are subject to partition except estates in entirety. The partition is voluntary when all the co-tenants join in mutual deeds conveying a separate parcel to each co-tenant in severalty. If all do not join, the partition is a nullity and those who have signed are not bound. Partition is compulsory or involuntary when enforced or compelled by suit at law or in equity by one or more of the co-tenants.

364. Time of Enjoyment. As to their time of enjoyment, estates are either present or future, or, as they are sometimes designated, estates in possession and estates in expectancy. A present estate, or an estate in possession, is any estate in lands, to the possession of which the true owner has or is immediately entitled. Future estates, or estates in expectancy, are such estates the possession and enjoyment of which is withheld or postponed