| Property law |
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| Part of thecommon law series |
| Types |
| Acquisition |
| Estates in land |
| Conveyancing |
| Future use control |
| Nonpossessory interest |
| Related topics |
| Othercommon law areas |
Higher category:Law andCommon law |
Personal property isproperty that is movable.[1] Incommon law systems, personal property may also be calledchattels orpersonalty. Incivil law systems, personal property is often calledmovable property ormovables—any property that can be moved from one location to another.
Personal property can be understood in comparison toreal estate, immovable property orreal property (such as land and buildings).
Movable property on land (largerlivestock, for example) was not automatically sold with the land, it was "personal" to the owner and moved with the owner.
The wordcattle is the OldNorman variant ofOld Frenchchatel, chattel, and today cheptel (derived from Latincapitalis, "of the head"), which was once synonymous with general movable personal property.[2]
Personal property may be classified in a variety of ways.
Intangible personal property or "intangibles" refers to personal property that cannot actually be moved, touched or felt, but instead represents something of value such asnegotiable instruments,securities,service (economics), andintangible assets includingchose in action.[3]
Tangible personal property refers to any type of property that can generally be moved (i.e., it is not attached to real property or land), touched or felt. These generally include items such as furniture, clothing, jewelry, sunglasses, eyeglasses, art, writings, or household goods. In some cases, there can be formal title documents that show the ownership and transfer rights of that property after a person's death (for example, motor vehicles, boats, etcetera) In many cases, however, tangible personal property will not be "titled" in an owner's name and is presumed to be whatever property he or she was in possession of at the time of his or her death.[4]
Accountants distinguish personal property from real property because personal property can bedepreciated faster than improvements (while land is not depreciable at all). It is an owner's right to get tax benefits for chattel, and there are businesses that specialize in appraising personal property, or chattel.
The distinction between these types of property is significant for a variety of reasons. Usually, one's rights on movables are more attenuated than one's rights on immovables (or real property). Thestatutes of limitations orprescriptive periods are usually shorter when dealing with personal or movable property. Real property rights are usually enforceable for a much longer period of time and in most jurisdictions real estate and immovables are registered in government-sanctioned land registers. In some jurisdictions, rights (such as alien or other security interest) can be registered against personal or movable property.
In common law it is possible to place amortgage upon real property. Such a mortgage requires payment, or the owner of the mortgage can seekforeclosure. Personal property can often be secured with a similar kind of device, variously called achattel mortgage, atrust receipt, or asecurity interest. In the United States, Article 9 of theUniform Commercial Code governs the creation and enforcement of security interests in most (but not all) types of personal property.
There is no similar institution to the mortgage in the civil law, however ahypothec is a device to securereal rights against property. These real rights follow the property along with the ownership. In common law a lien also remains on the property, and it is not extinguished by alienation of the property; liens may be real orequitable.
Many jurisdictions levy a personalproperty tax, an annual tax on the privilege of owning or possessing personal property within the boundaries of the jurisdiction. Automobile and boat registration fees are a subset of this tax. Most household goods are exempt as long as they are kept or used within the household.
The distinction between tangible and intangible personal property is also significant in some of the jurisdictions which impose sales taxes. In Canada, for example, provincial and federal sales taxes were imposed primarily on sales of tangible personal property whereas sales of intangibles tended to be exempt. The move to value added taxes, under which almost all transactions are taxable, has diminished the significance of the distinction.[5]
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