112. Interests and Estates

Alright, in this lecture I'm going to cover interests and estates. So we're going to talk about the two objectives are covering interests and covering estates in land. So starting off with interests. An interest in real estate is ownership of any combination of the bundle of rights. So an interest in real estate is ownership of any combination of the bundle of rights. And examples include the right of possession or the right to possess, the right to use, the right to transfer, the right to income bar, and the right to exclude. So possess, use, transfer, income bar, and exclude. An undivided interest in land is an owner's interest in a property in which two or more parties share ownership. So you have two or more individuals that have ownership in a track of land. And each of those individuals will have an undivided ownership interest in that land. So the owner's interest is a fractional part of the entire estate, which means they have an interest each. Each of the owners individually, each of the two owners individually has a fractional part of the entire estate. So if you have two family members, let's say you have two brothers, individuals who are not husband and wife, so you have two individuals, so we'll take two brothers, purchase a track of land. They would each have an undivided one half interest or 50% interest in that track of land. They would each have a one half undivided ownership interest in that track of land. Each brother has the right to use the track of land, and each cannot exclude the other from using the track of land. So when there's a situation where you have two or more individuals with undivided ownership interests in the land, then each has, in this case, if there's two owners, each has a one half. An undivided one half interest in that land. Each has a right to use the track of land, and one cannot exclude the other from using the track of land. So for example, brother number one can't come in and say, "I own the northern half of the track of land." And brother number two, you own the southern half of the track of land. So that's just everything equal. Now if they wanted to enter into an agreement later, and from an operating standpoint, that's fine, but when we're looking at the principles of this, two individuals who are not husband and wife by a track of land, then they each have an undivided ownership interest in that land, which would be one half interest. Each has a right to use the land, all of the land, not just half of it, and a right to use all of the land, and cannot exclude the other owner from using the land. And then legally, they have a right to use the entire track of land. So one owner can't say, "I own this half," and then you own the other half. I own the northern half and you own the southern half. It doesn't work that way. Examples of interests. So an owner who enjoys the complete bundle of rights. So we just talked about those. The right to possess, use, transfer, and cumber, and exclude. A tenant who has the right to use and exclude others from his or her property, so that's a leasehold interest. We'll talk about that later. So a tenant who has the right to use or exclude others or and exclude others from his or her property. A lender who has the right to encumber property over the life of a loan. So if there's a, if the borrower, the owner/barrower, signs a deed of trust, giving that lender a security interest in the property, where the property is the collateral for that loan, then a lender has the right to encumber that property over the life of the loan. And we'll talk about an, an incumbrance and encroachments here in a little while. A repairman who encumbers a property when the owner fails to pay for materials or labor for work done on a property. So under, under the Texas property code, one who provides materials, supplies, or labor for, in relations to real estate, and if they're not paid, then they have a right to file a requirements and mechanics lien or what we call an affidavit of mechanics, mechanics of insurance lien on that property. And then that affidavit, claiming a lien would then be an incumbrance on that property. A buyer who has an equitable interest in a property that is under contract but is not closed. So we've got equitable interest and we have legal interest or legal title. And if the buyer and seller have entered into a contract, then that buyer has an equitable interest in that real estate. They have certain rights associated with that real estate. Now once that transaction closes and the seller delivers a deed to the buyer, there's been a transfer and delivery. Well, there's been a delivery of deed from the seller to the buyer. So now the title to that property is transferred from the seller to the buyer. Then the buyer would have legal interest or legal title in that property. Another example is a municipality or city. That's the same term for a city that has the right to control development on a property. And so the city's have municipal ordinances that govern real estate development. And so the right to control development on a property. And a utility company that has access to a property in accordance with an easement. So an easement is a right to use the land of another for a limited and specific use. And so just this past week from when I'm recording this lecture, CPS, which is the utility company for the city of San Antonio, had their trucks all up and down the street, big trucks, because they were replacing telephone poles or the poles that were older and were rotting out. And in order to get access to those poles, they had an easement. They have an easement that allows them to access those poles. And then those poles and of themselves are in an easement to provide utility services to certain properties. So a utility company that has access to property in accordance with an easement. That's an interest in real estate. Interest differ based on how long that person may enjoy that interest. So how long do they have a right to use that property in that property? You know, whatever interest they may have, how long do they have a right to use that property? What portion of land, air, subsurface or surface does the interest apply to? And then is the interest public or private? And then also whether the interest includes legal ownership of the property. So is there ownership or is there some other interest that does not involve ownership such as an easement? So if we're trying to define possession or an interest that includes possession in real estate, then we call that an estate. So if we're talking about an interest in real estate that includes possession of that real estate, then we call that an estate. If the interest is non-possessory or there's no possession or it's non-possession, then we call that an incumbrance or a public interest. So if there's an interest in real estate that involves possession of that real estate, we call that an estate. If the interest is non-possessory, then we call that an incumbrance or public interest. So if an interest holder has the right possession, then that interest is called an estate. If the interest holder does not have the right possession, then that interest is called an incumbrance. If the interest holder is not private, such as a government entity, and does not have the right possession, then the interest is called a public interest. So one more time, if an interest holder has the right possession, then the interest is called an estate. If the interest holder does not have the right possession, then the interest is called an incumbrance. If the interest holder is not private, such as a government entity, so this first two are private interests. The third one is if the interest holder is not private, such as a government entity, and does not have the right possession, then the interest is called a public interest. So if we look at the definition of an incumbrance, and then we're also going to look at the definition of an encroachment. So in a definition of an interest holder, we're going to look at the definition of an encroachment. and components. And so I've got three different sources that I went to. First one was MerriamWebster.com. So online dictionary MerriamWebster or m- or m-yphen.w.com. The definition of the components is something that encumbers. That's a very simple definition. Or an impediment of burden. Okay, so if you think about it in the components that way, I think the easiest way to look at it we could have about an impediment, but a burden. Something that burdens real estate. So an occurrence. And an occurrence is a think of this as a big umbrella with the word and components on it hanging over a piece of property, piece of real estate. Covering a piece of real estate. That's an incumbrance. Something that is a burden to that real estate. Something that encumbers. Something that's an impediment. The definition on the Investopedia website is an incumbrance as a claim against a property by a party that is not the owner. So an incumbrance as a claim against the property or against a property by a party that's not an owner. And then I went to law.com and looked at their dictionary and the definition there is a general term for any claim or lean on a partial of real property. So any claim or lean on a partial of real property. And then we have some examples. So these include mortgages, deeds of trust, recorded abstracts of judgment, unpaid real estate taxes, tax lanes, materialments of mechanics lanes, easements. And then we can get into water rights and timber rights and rights in the mineral estate. If that estate has been severed to where the surface owner does not own any of the mineral estate, then the owner of that or the individual entity that has an interest in that mineral estate has certain rights in terms of access in the property to produce that mineral estate. So that's the definition of incumbent with some examples. So something that encumbered an impediment of burden. So just if you want to keep it simple a burden, think of it a umbrella hanging over a track of property, track of real estate that has encumbrance on it. And it's something that's going to burden that property. And some of these examples are voluntary and some are involuntary. So a borrower wants to buy a piece of property and they they need a loan. And in order to get a loan, the lender says we're going to use that properties collateral. So you're going to sign a deed of trust in Texas that gives the lender a security interest in that property and then the property is the collateral for that loan. And so the borrower signs that deed of trust and that's a voluntary lien, what we call a voluntary lien, but that lean encumbers that property, it burdens that property. If we look at other types of encumbrances that are not voluntary, we have an abstract abjudgment. That's where a credit judgment creditor files a lawsuit. Well, they're not judgment credit yet. You have a plane if it files a lawsuit against the defendant and it contains a judgment. And then once they obtain that judgment, then they are a judgment creditor. And then they will abstract that judgment with the county clerk in the county where the property is located. And then that puts the the world on record notice that there is a judgment against that individual that owns that property. And then before that property closes, if the property is going to do a title company, the title company will ensure that that lien is satisfied or that that that judgment is satisfied because there's not going to get into it here, but there's a whole that's a whole lecture in terms of what happens with funds, the proceeds from the sale of that property in relation to a judgment creditors' rights in those proceeds. And then we have easements. You know, it could be that somebody needs an easement to cross a track of land for their benefit. And then that easement would be an encumbrance. And that would be a burden to that track of land. And another example would be an easement for utilities. Now that isn't an encumbrance, but that's also a positive benefit. Or if we wanted to call it a positive burden to that property in the sense that if you want electricity and water and sewer and gas and electric and cable TV and internet, then in order for those utility providers to access your property, they're going to need an easement, which gives them a legal interest to then run those lines to the house to provide those services. And then also the right to access that property and its limited specific use in relation to that easement then to perform maintenance and repairs. Okay, so if you don't want that easement, the utility easement is called an easement in gross. If you don't want an easement in gross on your property, that's fine, but you're not going to get those utilities without that easement. So you can start to see, it's not all necessarily a bad thing. It's just there's something that is encumbering or burdening that property. Taxes or tax lanes, for example, would be something that burdens that property, you're required to pay property taxes. And if you don't, then a lawsuit can be filed against that property. We call that an in-rim proceeding. And then the property could be sold at tax sale to satisfy that judgment. And then the amount of taxes that are owed. And then another example of an encumberance is an encroachment. So make sure you understand this. You've got this umbrella that's hanging over property and it's got the word encumberance on it. And underneath it are all these encumbrances. So mortgage deed of trust, abstract judgment, real estate taxes, tax lanes, and minimum loans, maintenance and mechanics lanes, easements, water rights, mental estate, timber rights, and encroachments. So an encroachment is an encumberance, is in its type of encumberance. And an encroachment, I've got this definition from Inman. So an encroachment happens when a fence or another piece of your neighbor's property crosses the property lines. So other examples could include trees or part of a building. You know, you actually didn't accidentally build a part of the house across the property line. And that does happen. It's an accident sometimes, but it does happen. Fences, any other fixtures, that cross the property line. And that's an encroachment. An encroachment is an encumberance. So make sure you don't get those two mixed up. So encroachment falls under the encumberance umbrella. And then we have public entities. That's the third one. So if we go back up here, we've got possessed an interest in an estate that involves possession or in real estate that involves possession is called an estate and interest that is non-possessory is called an encumberance or public interest. So we talked about estates. We talked about encumbrances. And then now we'll talk about the public interest. So public entities, like a government, may own or lease land in which they have an interest in the land. So now they have an ownership interest in the land, so that's a possessory interest. That's one thing. The second is that government entities may also have non-possessory interest in real estate. And some examples of this are the police powered a zone. So the right to have zoning designations for every tract of land within the municipality, within the city limits. So the police powered a zone. Another would be the imminent domain. And this is the right of the government to take the land of another for public use. So the right of the government to take the land of another for public use. Taxation is another example. And another one is s cheat, s cheat. And we find the definition to s cheat and then the application of that in chapter 71 of the Texas property code in relation to Texas law. So if an individual dies, this is from the from the Texas property code. If an individual dies and testate, that means without a will of an individual dies testate, that means they have a will. If they die in testate, that means they die without a will. And then without errors, so there's no errors, there's no known errors. Then the real and personal property that individual is subject to s cheat and s cheat means the investing of title to property in the state in an as cheap proceeding. So what that means is if somebody dies without a will and without any known errors, then effectively the property goes to the state. Okay, so that's another non-possessory interest that the government has in real estate. So we have police power to zone, imminent domain, taxation, and then as cheap. All right, so now we're talking about, so we've talked about interests. So now we're going to get into a state's inland. Okay, and so if you remember earlier we talked about a couple times that an interest in real estate that is possessory is called an estate. Okay, so now we're going to talk about the estates in land. So in a state in land includes the right of possession. Okay, and then there are two types of estates. So this is the big picture. We've got the freehold estate and we have the leasehold estate. So the freehold estate and the leasehold estate. Okay, the length of time for possession, the relationship of the parties and the specific interest held will determine the type of a state. Okay, so the length of time for possession, relationship of the parties and specific interest held will determine the type of a state. So if we start off the freehold estate, has the duration of that owner's rights in that estate cannot be determined. Which means that like if you were to buy a house, we'll talk about this again in a minute, but if you were to buy a house more likely than not, that's going to fall under the freehold estate heading and it's going to be a fee-simple-absoluted state. We'll talk about that in a minute, but just for the purposes of this scenario, that's going to fall under the freehold estate versus the leasehold estate heading. Okay, so which heading does it fall under freehold or leasehold? So in this case, you buy a house. It's a fee-simple-absoluted which is a freehold estate. So when we say the duration of the owner's rights cannot be determined, we don't know how long you're going to own that house, but you can own it as long as you want to. If you want to own it one year and sell it, you have the right to do that. If you un-own it for your lifetime, you have a right to do that. So it can be for a full lifetime, less than a half time, but the duration of your rights cannot be determined. Whereas with a leasehold estate, a leasehold estate has a specific duration. So if you were in an apartment, and we're going to talk about this again in a minute, so an apartment lease would fall under a leasehold estate where you have a possessionary interest in that apartment. Then that lease is going to have a specific duration. Now it's going to be defined. It could be six months, nine months, 12 months. It could be two years in a commercial real estate setting. A lease could be three years, five, seven, 10, 15, 20, 30, but it has a specific duration tied to it. Okay, it's not unknown. It's not unlimited. So if we look at the freehold estate, we have now bring it down to a level. We have fee-simple estates and we have life estates. So we have fee-simple estates and life estates. And the fee-simple estate, that's in the duration of the, it's a freehold estate, so the duration is unlimited. It's unknown. The fee-simple estate is the highest form of ownership. Interest one can acquire in real estate. So the fee-simple estate is the highest form of ownership interest one can acquire in real estate. And it includes all the bundle of rights. You have the complete bundle of rights. If you buy a piece of property, if you buy a track of real estate, that is a fee-simple absolute estate. So we call it fee-simple, fee-simple absolute. Those are the same thing. You can also call it a fee-interest, a fee-state. They have the same meeting. And then there's no restrictions associated with a fee-simple absolute estate. So again, if you go to buy a house more likely than not, the interest that you will receive as part of that purchase of real estate will be a fee-simple absolute interest. And if you, when you go to buy a house, remember this, that in the title company, or in the title commitment that is drafted by the title company, their Schedule A, B, C, and D, in Schedule A of that title commitment, it will outline who the buyer is, it will outline the lender, the purchase price, the amount of financing for that property. And then it will state the record title owner for that property, and then the interest of that record title owner. And then it will often say fee-simple. Or we assume that it means fee-simple absolute. And so then that is the interest that is being conveyed in relation to that real estate transaction. And then the last part of Schedule A is going to be the legal description for that property. So now back to the freehold of state scenario. So we have the fee-simple estate, we have the life estate, and then in the fee-simple estate, we have the fee-simple absolute. And the fee-simple absolute has the full bundle of rights. It has no restrictions. It's the most common estate. The fee-simple absolute is perpetual, it's unlimited duration, there's no conditions or restrictions, and it is the most common estate. And then we have the fee-simple defeasable. So we have fee-simple absolute and we have fee-simple defeasable. And the fee-simple absolute as well, it has no conditions, the fee-simple defeasable does have conditions or restrictions. So if the property is transferred from a solid to a buyer and there are conditions placed in that deed, then it is a fee-simple defeasable interest that is being conveyed. And so what that means is the property must be used for a certain purpose. And then if that use changes, then that estate can revert to the previous grantor, the one that sold the property. And so under the fee-simple defeasable heading, we have two types of estates. We have the determinable state, and we have the condition subsequent. So we have the determinable and we have the condition subsequent. And the main distinction here is with a fee-simple defeasable, determinable estate, then if the usage changes, or if any restrictions are violated, then that estate automatically reverts to the grantor or the grantor's errors. So it's an automatic with a condition subsequent, if any condition is violated, then the previous owner may repossess the property. And then that reversion is not automatic. So it depends on how that language is included in the deed, by where those restrictions are placed on the usage for the property. So we start off with the fee-simple and the life of states. We're going to get to the life states here in a minute. And then under the fee-simple heading, we have the fee-simple estate. And under the fee-simple estate, we have the fee-simple absolute. We have the fee-simple defeasable. And then under fee-simple defeasable, we have the determinable estate and then the condition subsequent. And the things to remember are that the fee-simple absolute is perpetual. There's no conditions or restrictions. The owner has the full bundle of rights and it is the most common estate. The under the fee-simple defeasable heading, there's restrictions placed on that property. And if it's a determinable fee, then if the use of restrictions are violated, then that estate automatically reverts to the grantor or grantor's errors. And if it's a condition subsequent, then that reversion is not automatic. The previous owner or the owner's errors may repossess the property. So now getting into a life estate. So a life estate is a freehold estate. It's the second freehold of states. We've got the fee-simple and then we have the life of states. And a life estate is a freehold of state and the duration is limited to the life of the owner. So upon the death of the owner, or another named individual, the estate passes to the original owner or another named party. As an example, you have somebody that wants to help out their parents and they've sought legal advice from an attorney that they would like to buy a house for their parents. And they want their parents to own it. But then whenever the parents pass away, that sibling does not want that property being subject to the parents estate. So if their will says that our property is divided between the three siblings, that sibling by the house says, "I don't want my property falling under the division of the property under the will. I want the property to come back to me." And so that sibling could buy a house for the parents and give the parents an interest in that property as a life estate. So therefore they have full ownership rights in that property, but their ownership duration is limited to the life of, in this case, to the life of the mother and father. And then upon the death of, let's say, the father passes away first and then the mother still has an interest in that property, which is still a life estate. Then upon her death, that her interest in that estate passes to the original owner, which is the sibling that bought the house. The holder of a life estate is called the life tenant. And then the life estate owner enjoys full ownership rights during the period of ownership. Holders of future interest, either owner of a reversionary or remainder interest. So it depends on how that interest is being affected after the death of the life tenant. And then this may be created by agreement between private parties or by law. So we have two types of interests that can be affected upon the death of the life tenant. We have the remainder and we have the reversion. And with the remainder, if a life estate names a third party to receive title to the property, then the interest that that party has is called a remainder interest. Okay, so if the life estate names a third party to receive title to the property. So let's say the, the sibling buys the property for the mother and father. And instead of the property being transferred back to the grantor, the sibling upon the death of the last parent, that property is then transferred to that siblings oldest child. Okay, so then that oldest child would have a remainder interest in that property. So if the life estate names a third party to receive title to the property, then the interest that party has is called a remainder interest. And the, the holder of that interest is called a remainder man. With a reversion, the property reverts to the previous owner. Okay, and then that, that, that previous owner has a, what's called a reversionary interest. So if it's the life estate interest is transferred to a third party, then it's called a remainder interest. And the holder of that interest is called a remainder man. If the property reverts to the previous owner, then that previous owner has a reversionary interest. There are two broad types of, of life estates. There's the conventional life estate and there's the legal life estate. So the conventional life estate and the legal life estate. The conventional life estate is created by a grant from a fee simple property owner. So fee simple property fee simple absolute. An individual that has the full bundle of rights. So from a fee simple property owner to the grantee. So the grantor is the seller and the grantee is the buyer or in this case. And so following the termination of the life estate, the rights either passed to a remainder or a reversionary interest holder. Okay, so that's, that's the life estate we've been talking about. And then during the life estate, the owner enjoys all the rights of ownership. And as long as he or she does not have fringe on the rights of the remainder or a reversionary interest holders. And there could be a whole lecture just on life estates in it as themselves. So we're not going to get into that. But in terms of what the life tenant can and cannot do. They do have a right to use the property, but you get into case law in terms of not committing waste in relation to the property. And then there are, now we're breaking it down again. There are two types of conventional life estates. There's the ordinary life estate and then there's the life estate we call the poor, poor, ultra V poor, ultra V. The ordinary with the ordinary life estate, it ends with the death of the life estate owner. With the poor, ultra V, the life estate interest is based on the lifetime of a third person. So somebody else. And then when that third person is deceased, then the life estate passes to the remainder or the reversionary interest holder. With the legal life estate, this is created by state law. And it protects the rights of surviving family members upon the death of a husband or wife. So we've got a husband and wife owning property. So the legal life estate is created by state law and protects the rights of surviving family members upon the death of a husband or wife. And there are three forms of legal life estates. There's the homestead, there's the dower and courtesy, and there's the elective share. So the homestead, the dower and courtesy and elective share. With a homestead, this is one's principal residence. And then a homestead law protects a homestead from forced sale by a judgment creditor for general debts. So in states that have a homestead law, a judgment creditor. So for example, you don't pay your credit card bill, you know, an unsecured creditor, you don't pay your credit card bill. And they follow lawsuit against you and they get a judgment and they are a judgment creditor for a general debt. Okay, they cannot force the sale of your house in a state that has a homestead law that protects that property from the forced sale by a judgment creditor. So we've got that in Texas. The homestead, however, is not protected from forced sale due to, and then there's a laundry list, but to give you some examples, nonpayment of tax debt. It's not a long list. But you don't pay your real estate taxes, then the taxes, one or more of the tax and jurisdictions are going to follow tax suit against that property. And if they attain a judgment, then sell that property out of tax sale to satisfy that judgment. Any debt that is used to finance the purchase of that property, so if you buy a piece of property, you take out a loan and you sign a deed of trust, which gives the lender a security interest in that property and that property then is the collateral for that loan. If you don't pay that loan, then the lender can go through the, depending upon the type of loan, either judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure process in Texas, most of the foreclosures are nonjudicial in Texas, and then sell that property out of foreclosure sale to satisfy the debt that's owed. And another one would be a debt for any home improvements. So if you have somebody providing labor services for home improvements, then, and then you do not pay, then a materielment of the mechanic, affidavit claim and a materielment of mechanics link can be filed. And then that the whole, the individual that is filed at affidavit has either one or two years, depending upon the, well, I think so. It's one year for commercial property. So for homestead, it's two years. No, I take that back. It's one year for homestead property. It's two years for commercial property to then go to court, get a judgment and then foreclose on that judgment lean. So that's still a, still a hurdle or couple of hurdles to get through, but that's in relation to repairs or improvements for the home. And the, the homestead cannot be conveyed by just one spouse. So for in Texas, you have husband and wife at own property that is not separate property. And then they go to sell that property. The title company is going to want both signatures of the husband and buyer on the deed. And homestead interest is extinguished if the property is sold. So if you sell the property, you no longer have that homestead interest. And then some states, the exemption is automatic and others one must apply for that exemption. And so in Texas, it's automatic. It falls under the Texas, the Texas Constitution provides the homestead protection. And then it's further defined and outlined in the Texas property code. And so it's automatic. Now, this is not the same thing as the homestead application is filed with the, the appraisal district in Texas to get a reduction in the, the assess value, a portion of the assess value and then which reduces the amount of taxes that are owed. So that's something totally different. So this is a protection that's provided under the Texas Constitution and the Texas property code. Then the second one we have dower and curtsy. So we have homestead, we have dower and curtsy and we have elective share. And the dower is a wife's life estate interest in the husband property. So the dower is the wife's life estate interest in the husband's property and the curtsy is the husband's life estate interest in the wife's property. So property acquired. under a dour and curtzy laws is owned by the surviving spouse for the duration of their life. So it provides a life of state effectively in that spouse. To transfer property, one spouse must obtain a relation with the other spouse. And upon the death of the spouse, the other spouse acquires or inherits the one half undivided interest of the other spouse. Now with the life of state, and then we're going to talk about elective share next. Those have gone by the wayside in Texas because we have, we are a community property state. And so in Texas with being a community property state, the law related to community property is going to govern. And then finally elective share under the life of state heading. So the surviving spouse is entitled to a percent of the deceased spouse's property. The surviving spouse must file for the elective share. And if the spouse fails to file for the elective share within a reasonable amount of time, then the estate passes according to the will or the laws of dissent in that state. So when we talk about dissent, as we're talking about inheritance laws by state statute. So we either, we apply distribution under the will or we apply dissent, which is the laws of distribution by state law. And like I said, Texas is a community property state. So you've, you've got to determine what a state you're in based on where that property is located to determine with what law or laws apply. And then now we've got a lease hold of states. Okay. So the lease hold of state has a limited duration. And it is based on the execution of a lease, generally based on the execution of a lease by a fee owner. And that fee owner is the lesser or the landlord to a less C or a tenant. So we have less or in less C or we have landlord and tenant. Tentents do not own a fee interest in the estate. What tenants have are the right of possession. And then the right to exclude others from their whatever rights they have under that lease, which is generally going to be limited to an apartment unit. So they don't necessarily have the right to exclude from the property at large. It's going to be the right to exclude others from the use and relation to their unit. There are, and there are four types of estates or lease hold of states. There are, there's the estate for years. So the estate for years, the estate from period to period, the estate at a will, and estate at sufferance. Okay. And so each of these estates, the, each of these lease hold of states has or the, or the, the interest holder under each of these estates has different rights. Okay. So that's going to be the distinction between each of these. And so as I mentioned, we'll start with the estate for years. This is also called a tenancy for years. So a state for years or a tenancy for years. And, and in this case, you generally have a landlord executing a lease or a lease that's executed between the landlord and the tenant. You can have in Texas, there's certain exceptions that when I'm getting into all of it right now, but you can have a lease that is oral in Texas, there's some limitations on that based on the statute of frauds. But, you know, most of our leases are, are written in writing. And those, those written leases then outline the role, responsibilities, duties, and obligations of the parties of both parties, the less or in the, or the landlord and the tenant. But with a tenancy for years, we have a, think of this like your apartment lease. We have a, a beginning and an end date. So there's a start date and there's an end date. And this can be for any duration. It could be for six, nine, 12, 12 months, two years, three years, five, seven, ten, twenty, thirty. But it has a start date and it has an end date. At the end of the term, the lease hole or the lease hold estate terminates automatically. Okay. So think of that like your apartment lease. The estate from period to period, which is also called a periodic tenancy or it's also called a month of month lease. And this can be in writing or it can be oral. And the thing about a month of month lease or periodic tenancy lease or period to period lease is that it automatically renews for an indefin period of time, subject to the payment of rent. Now that, that, that, time is going to be limited based on what the agreement between the parties is. So if it's, if it's a month of month lease, then that, that term renews automatically for another month. Okay. And if the landlord accepts rent payment, then it, then it continues for another period of duration. And then either party can give notice of termination of that agreement or of that lease to the other party. Now in Texas, that's, you've got to give at least 30 days notice before the period of duration ends. We've got the estate at will or which is also called a tenancy at will. Here again, there's no definite expiration date. There's no renewal cycle. It can be terminated by proper notice. But the two examples I have. One is, you've got a grown son that moves back in with their parents, you know, something happens, whatever, moves back in. And they say, you can stay here. Then that's an estate at will or a tenancy at will. So there's no start date. There's no where there's a start date. But there's no, there's no termination date. Another example of this is that you have a, you have a tent that had a lease for, let's say, a 12 month lease, let's say in your apartment situation, you move into an apartment and you have a lease for 12 months. But then you stay on after that lease is terminated. And then the landlord agrees to that. Then you continue to pay rent. Then what that lease does, now some leases will state that if the tenant does not terminate and they remain the property, then the lease renews for another 12 month period. Okay, so let's take that out of the equation here, out of the scenario. You, you have a 12 month lease and it doesn't say anything else in, it's at least terminates. And you stay in the property and you ask the landlord, I want to stay here. Can I stay on month to month? And the owner says yes. So that lease does not renew for another 12 month period. And you're, you're under the estate for, from period to period, that would be other than a month. It could be six months, it could be three months. Generally we call that a month to month lease. So in this case though, what that, that 12 month lease, that 12 month lease is terminated and now the tenant stays on with your agreement of landlord, because landlord's going to accept rent. So then that lease turns into a month to month lease. Okay, so that's in a state it will generally what you see there is you having lease. And in fact, it terminated and then the tenant stayed on and the landlord agreed to continue to receive rent payment. And then, and then we fall under the requirements that we already talked about in terms of provide that lease continuing to renew for another month to month period or another monthly period of duration. And then either party may terminate by giving the other party notice, which is at least 30 days notice before, before the next renewal period. So if you, if you're in the middle of the month and you give notice, then you finish out that month and you've got one more month. You've got to get 30 days notice, both parties. And then a state at sufferance. So that we also call this the tenancy at sufferance. So this is where you had a tenant that occupies the property or is occupying the property without the consent of the landlord. And the tenant fails to vacate after the termination of the lease or the tenant is evicted and remains on the property, then we have a state or a tenancy at sufferance. So in this case, think you're, you've got 12 month lease in apartment that lease terminates. There's no other provision that says it renews and the landlord says get out. And then you don't that, that becomes a tenancy at sufferance. And so with each of these, the tenants, if we go, if we go back to the a state or tenancy for years, that's where the tenant is going to have the most rights. And then this, the a state or tenancy at sufferance, I mean, the month to month or the periodic tenancy or the period to period, lease all the state is going to have fewer rights and then the tenancy at will or the tenancy at sufferance are going to have fewer rights as well. And so that concludes our review of interest and estates in land.