Personal Property This week’s lectures will focus on tangible property. There are two main divisions in property: the law dealing with real property (land and items permanently attached to land) and the law dealing with personal property (all other items). The essence of property law is ownership. This ownership may be held outright, or it may be held in common with others as a joint tenant. Ownership interests are acquired in many ways including by possession (in the case of wild animals hunted or finding lost and abandoned property), by production, or by gift. A gift is a voluntary transfer of property ownership not supported by consideration. There are three elements to a valid gift: · Donative intent- this is ascertained by the language of the donor and the surrounding circumstances. · Delivery- this requires giving up dominion and control of the item. With some items, constructive delivery may be applied. This is true, for example, in the situation where a key to a car is given symbolizing that the car has been given. · Acceptance- the donee must accept the gift. This is generally assumed. Gifts are ordinarily unconditional. However, the gift may be conditional in some situations. A gift causa mortis, for example, is a gift given in anticipation of death. If the donor (gift giver) does not die, the gift becomes invalid. Mislaid, lost or abandoned property presents difficult challenges in the area of personal property law. Mislaid property gives the owner—not a random finder—the first claim to the property. Mislaid property is property that the owner did not intend to lose. However, if the owner does not claim the property the finder may keep it. Lost property is treated similarly. The owner has the first claim. However, the finder may keep it if the owner does not claim it (many states require the finder to seek out the owner). Finally, property that has been intentionally abandoned is the finder's, as the owner is presumed to have surrendered all rights in ownership in possession. The final area of law we need to discuss is bailments. Bailments are created when an owner gives possession (but not ownership) to another temporarily. Most bailments are created by agreement. And although the elements of a contract may be present, this is not necessarily true except in the case of a commercial bailment, for example, where a patron gives a suit to a dry cleaner. The bailment is created when: · Personal property is; · Delivered without title; · Under an agreement that property be returned to the bailor or otherwise disposed of according to the owners instructions. Delivery requires the bailee to surrender exclusive possession and control to the bailor who must accept the property. The agreement does not need to be in writing for bailments lasting less than a year. The bailment gives the bailee certain rights including the right of temporary control and possession of the bailed property, use of the property for the purpos.