Legal Definitions - fiar

In Scots law, a fiar refers to the individual or entity who holds the ultimate, inheritable ownership of an asset or property. This means they possess the full legal title, with the right to pass it on to their heirs or dispose of it, even if another person (known as a "liferenter") has the right to use and enjoy that asset for their lifetime.

Essentially, the fiar is the true owner whose rights are complete and perpetual, but they may have to wait until a liferenter's temporary interest in the property comes to an end before they can fully exercise all the privileges of ownership, such as selling or occupying the property themselves.

• Example 1: Inheritance through a Will

  A woman's will specifies that her husband may live in their family home for the remainder of his life. However, upon his death, the house is to be transferred outright to their son. In this situation, the son is the fiar of the house. He holds the ultimate, inheritable ownership, even though his father (the liferenter) has the right to occupy it during his lifetime. The son cannot sell the house or move into it until his father's liferent interest ceases.

• Example 2: Trust for Investment Capital

  A wealthy individual establishes a trust that directs all income generated from a substantial investment portfolio to be paid to their niece for her entire life. After the niece's death, the entire capital sum of the investment portfolio is to be distributed to a specific educational charity. Here, the educational charity is the fiar of the investment portfolio's capital. It is the ultimate owner of the principal sum, whose full rights to the capital will become active only after the niece's liferent interest in the income ends.

• Example 3: Property Sale with Reserved Life Interest

  An elderly farmer decides to sell his large estate to a property developer but negotiates a condition that allows him to continue living in the farmhouse and using a small surrounding plot of land for the rest of his life. The developer, having purchased the estate, is the fiar. The developer holds the full, inheritable ownership of the entire estate, even though the farmer retains a 'liferent' interest, meaning the right to occupy and use a portion of it for his remaining life. The developer's full rights to possession of the farmhouse will only materialize after the farmer's death.