Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Freehold: When someone owns a piece of land or property for an unknown amount of time, it is called a freehold. This means they have the right to keep it forever and can pass it down to their family when they die. It's different from renting or leasing, where someone only has the right to use the property for a certain amount of time.
Freehold is a type of ownership where a person has the right to own a property for an unspecified amount of time. This means that the person has the right to use, sell, or pass on the property to their heirs. Freehold estates include all those described as “estates of inheritance,” meaning those able to be passed in a will or under intestacy laws to heirs, and freehold estates include life estates which are those given to a person for life.
For example, if someone owns a house and the land it sits on, they have a freehold estate. They can live in the house, sell it, or pass it on to their children when they die. Another example is if someone owns a piece of farmland, they have a freehold estate in that land and can use it for farming or sell it to someone else.
Freehold estates are different from non-freehold estates, such as a lease. In a lease, a person only has the right to use the property for a specified amount of time, but they do not own the property.