Movable and Immovable Property (Essay Sample)

Background

The property can be grouped as either movable or immovable property (Delport, 1999:2). The eminence between the two is very essential as one of respected academic law authors stated in their law textbook that all material possession that cannot be sorted as immovables, is movables (Walt & Pienaar, 2009:18), which bring us to the core point of defining this two elements of property factor. Moveable things in a practical terms are all seen as tangible things ([res]which is a latin word that is a some singular and plural, in latin with twofold meanings within Roman law, that means “thing” in a constrictive sense or if you like, corporeal object. In a bigger picture this means one's patrimony/estate.) that are not immovable, the like of a car or a horse (which are classified as corporeal movable things in law terms). Immovable can be seen as either corporeal or incorporeal, that will be a portion of land as noted on the map, diagram or even on the general plan as per registered on the deeds office. The other view point on immovables is everything that is attached permanently to the land be it by means of building or the planting. As mention above that immovables can be either corporeal or incorporeal, here is the good examples:

Corporeal

Incorporeal

A piece of land

Real and personal servitudes

Everything attached permanently to the land

Registered long-term leases

Things, but that form part of land

Registered lease regarding mineral rights

Sectional title unit

Note: The above illustration is according to Walt & Pienaar, 2009:19 textbook

Therefore, property ownership is the ownership of the property which is defining as the physically according to legal senses that is that part of earth's surface, assigned to stock of the land that is register in deeds office. Due to literature research it is unfortunate that there is no clear legal definition of “property” which drive us to a common law definition that is of material nature which is of permanently attached to the land that is hereof immovable property (building) which needs to be in contact with the surface (ground).

Herein, the ownership is regard as the most fundamental right which a person can have over a property, however, in legal term no person can have more of the rights over a property other than the owner. Which is why only the owner may possess, use, enjoy, alienate and destroy his own property but subjected to certain legal restrictions.

Legal speaking, we need to know who is the owner of immovable property in order to understand the meaning of ownership, that is the person in whose name that property is registered with, this is according to the Deeds Registries Act in South Africa. Moreover, this can be very confusing if view in the eye of general person but the fact is that a property is register in a particulars of person's name in the office of deeds is not in the conclusive proof that such person is the owner of that property, this point needs to be understood clearly. Because, immovable property can indeed be owned by someone else other than the person who's name is on the deeds roll or partly by someone else, even though the property is registered in a particular person's name (meaning the owners name could be absent from deeds' office).

Apart from that, this view draw us close to the legal meaning of ownership that is hereof that it I not a requirement according to our law that the seller of immovable property should or must be the owner of that property at the period of sale. This analogy could be very obscured because a purchaser who bought the property on instalments may validly sell the property before transfer is taken. However, only the owner of that property can transfer ownership in that property to a purchaser. All been state herein, that is why it is important to know who is the owner of that immovable property is... before whether it is that seller himself or someone else in other part of the world. One must always remember that the owner of the property is entitled of two things when it comes to property ownership, that is possess and occupy.  As we have witness that it is doable that a person  to own property without begin in the possession or occupation in that regards, also for a person to possess and occupy without really being the owner of that property. One must not be mislead by the characteristics of the person, as this clause is a fairly standard practice in South African landscape.