directors of a corporation the appointment is contrary to equitable rules and unjust.

463. Powers of receivers.-The powers of receivers are derived from three sources:

1. The common law or the statute under which he is appointed.

2. The order appointing him.

3. Subsequent directions from the court.

When a receiver is in doubt as to the correct course to pursue he should apply for special direction from the court whose agent he is. The appointment of a receiver for an insolvent corporation suspends its right to exercise corporate functions, and the right to sue becomes vested in the receiver. Conversely, an action brought against the corporation should be brought against the receiver, although on this point authorities are not harmonious. A receiver may not be sued without the express permission of the court which appointed him.

PART VI: PROPERTY

CHAPTER XXVIII

PROPERTY IN LAND

464. Definitions.-While the subject of real property has only a slight interest for the man in general business, it is important enough to deserve some space in this volume.

The term "property" is used to indicate material objects or to designate the estate which one has in such objects. Property is usually divided into two classes, real and personal, the first of which consists of land and things so annexed thereto as to become a part of the land, and the second of which consists of movable things not so annexed to real property as to become a part thereof.

Property in land may be real property or personal property. Where the estate is for the life of the possessor or descendible to his heirs, the possessor has a freehold estate. These estates are known to the law as real estates or real property; all other estates are personal property, and are known as estates less than freehold.

Property may be corporeal or incorporeal, depending on whether it is tangible or intangible.

EXAMPLE

390. A owns an acre of land together with a house and its fixtures. He grants to B a right of way over one corner of his

acre of land. Here A's property is corporeal and B's is incorporeal.

390a. A owns a watch and a model of a machine he has just invented. He secures a patent and assigns it immediately to B, who also has a copyright on a book describing the patent. B has loaned A $500 which A promises to repay. B owns also shares of stock, bonds and promissory notes. Here A has corporeal personal and B has incorporeal personal property.

465. Duration of estates in land.-An estate in land is an interest which one has in it. At the same time many different estates may exist in the same land. These various interests will become apparent upon studying the various forms of estates hereafter mentioned.

Estates may be divided: 1, As to quantity; 2, as to the number and connection of the owners; 3, as to whether they are qualified or unqualified in their nature, and 4, as to the time when the enjoyment begins.

466. Freehold estates.-Estates may be freehold or less than freehold. Freehold estates, which endure forever, or for a life, are again divided into estates of inheritance, called estates in fee, and life estates, whether for the life of the owner or for the life of some other person. Estates of inheritance at common law were divided into estates in fee simple, which descended generally to the heirs of the owner, collateral as well as lineal, and estates in fee tail which descended in a direct line only and which might be limited to particular heirs, as for example, the eldest male heir, etc. In this country estates in fee tail have been abolished or modified in most jurisdictions.

Life estates are divided into conventional life estates and legal life estates. The former are created by deed or will and the latter by law. The conventional life

estate may be made to endure for the life of the tenant or for the life of another person. Two important legal life estates are estates of dower and estates by the curtesy. The dower estate is that which a surviving wife has for life in one-third of the lands and tenements which her husband owned in fee during the marriage. The dower estate may be released by the wife before the death of her husband by joining with him in a deed of conveyance or by the execution of other instruments for that purpose. The dower estate has been abolished in some states where the widow is given an absolute share in her deceased husband's property instead of the life estate in a part only.

An estate by the curtesy is a life interest of a husband in all real property in which his wife, during the marriage, had an estate of inheritance, provided a child be naturally born out of the marriage, alive and capable of inheriting the property. In some states the husband may be deprived of his right to curtesy through the alienation of the property by the wife by deed or will, but no act of the husband alone can deprive his surviving wife of her right to dower. In some states curtesy has been entirely abolished.

467. Estates less than freehold.-Estates less than freehold are divided into: 1. An estate for years, which is an estate measured by some definite period of time, whether it be a month, a year or a number of years.. 2. An estate from year to year, which is a tenancy continuing for a successive similar period after the expiration of the original period. Where a tenant pays rent regularly every month, every week, or for any other similar period, he acquires by implication of law an estate from month to month, from week to week, etc. 3. An estate at will, which is an estate that may

be terminated at the will of either the lessor or the lessee. Estates at will are usually construed into estates from year to year whenever possible. 4. An estate at sufferance, which is an estate that arises when a tenant holds over after the expiration of the term without the consent of the landlord. If the landlord consents to the tenant's holding over the estate becomes one from year to year. The only difference between the tenant at sufferance and a mere trespasser is that the former originally came upon the land rightfully, while the latter is a wrongdoer from the beginning.

468. Estates regarded as to the number of owners and their connection with one another.-Estates regarded from the viewpoint of the number of owners and their connection with one another may be divided into estates in severalty and joint estates. Where one person has a right to enjoy real property separately and distinct from the interests of others, he is said to have an estate in severalty. Joint estates are divided into six classes: (1) Estates in joint tenancy, (2) estates or tenancies in common, (3) estates by entirety, (4) partnership estates, (5) joint mortgages and (6) community estates.

Where two or more persons acquire interests at the same time from the same source, and their individual interests are the same in amount, and the estate has come to them by any method other than by descent from a deceased ancestor they are said to be joint tenants, and their estate is called a joint tenancy. By statute in most states joint tenancies are held to be tenancies in common unless otherwise specially provided in the deed of conveyance. The important feature of joint tenancies is the right of survivorship, that is, the right of the survivor or survivors to take the entire estate to