ESTATE

INTRODUCTION

An estate is a legal entity denoting the character and quality of rights that an individual or individuals possess in a property. Property can be defined as the interest, which can be acquired in an object or thing. The key words from the above definition are “Rights” and “Interest”. The concise oxford dictionary defines them as follows;

Interest: “a legal concern, title or right”

Right: “a thing one may legally or morally claim”

        

Thus an estate can be described as the interests and/or rights, which can be held over any object. Various rights and interest may exist at one and the same time over the same object and can be held by different individuals. Each of these rights and interest represent an “ESTATE”. For instance, in a multi tenanted office block of eight (8) floors, the owner of the block has an estate in it; each of the tenants occupying separate area also has estate in the same property. However, the rights and interest in these estates are in different degrees viz:

·       

The Right of Ownership, which is an absolute right and confers a freehold interest on the holder.

·        The Right of Use, which is a limited right and confers a leasehold interest on the holder.

FREEHOLD ESTATE

          The freehold interest (estate) is the highest form of ownership one can have over property.

LEASEHOLD ESTATE

The leasehold interest (estate) is an estate less than the freehold and it exists for a certain period i.e. it is a terminable interest.

It is pertinent to note that Ownership rights and interests in property are rarely absolute. Some restrictions and limitations usually exist over ownership rights to safeguard the overriding public interest. Such restrictions fall under three broad categories viz;

i)                   Tenure (duration of ownership)

ii)                Covenant (leases, licences, easements)

iii)              State legislation (rent control, land use act)

         

As a result of the above-mentioned restrictions one can conclude that property ownership is made up of a collection of rights thus property is usually described as “A BUNDLE OF RIGHTS”.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ESTATE

  The characteristics of an estate can be summarized under the following;

i)             Physical Identity: An estates must be a tangible thing, which can be described in terms of size, shape and location.

ii)          Economic Identity: Whether an estates is held for occupation or for investment purposes, it represents a financial investment, which is capable of yielding economic returns.

iii)        Legal Identity: An estates presumes certain rights are enforceable at law and it is the character of these rights that determine the degree and quality of control, which the owner has over the estate.

iv)        Management Character: Each estates (interest) in a property represents a separate unit of control,

REFERENCES

Kuye G.O (2000) Property Valuation principles and Practice in Nigeria”. Nigeria National Library Cataloguing in Publication data.

Darlow C. (1983) Valuation and Investment Appraisal. Estate Gazette.

Chik E.U (2006) Introduction to Estate Management. Treem Nigeria Limited.

Ahmed A.A. Dogora M.V and Akeh G.I. (2012) Introduction to Property Valuation Principles and Practice. Tossy Print, Nigeria.

Ola A. (ed) (2001): Introduction course in Environmental Sciences. Ibadan Odun Print and Packs, Nigeria.