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#Property Law: Law Library of Congress

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Property Law

Generally, property is divided into two major areas: realty and personalty. Realty is land, whereas personalty is possessions for instance, jewelry, money, furniture, or (formerly) slaves. State laws regulate who may purchase property, who may own it, and how it will be distributed upon the death of the owner or owners. This premise applies unless the land is federal property, in which case the federal government makes the determination.

Property laws have been important from the beginning of this nation, especially since many new citizens did not or could not own property in their countries of origin. Disagreement among the colonies about continuing British legal traditions resulted in differences in colonial laws some colonies wanted to remain true to British legal tradition, whereas others chose to abandon some or all of the traditions. With its very structured property and inheritance common-law tradition, Great Britain allowed women to file suit in chancery courts, known as equity courts. The approach a colony took on such an issue determined to a large extent the rights and privileges that women living in that colony possessed.

Some colonies, such as Virginia, had liberal laws that gave widows the right to own or control the use of land as part of their dowry rights. 13 Connecticut, on the other hand, gave women no rights to own their property or their husbands' real property. Other colonies gave wives the right of private examination. 14 Their laws required husbands to get the signatures of their wives before title to joint property or property brought to the marital state by the wife could be conveyanced or transferred. 15 Virginia adopted the British chancery court system, which gave women the ability to challenge male descendants' claims to land. In the western territories, because of the influence of Spanish civil law, women might enjoy community property rights.