What is fee simple land ownership ?
If one reads our Commonwealth of Australia Constitution one would quickly notice the words that state all our land be held in fee simple.
So what is fee simple ?
Put simply, fee simple ownership is ‘complete ownership’ and grants land owners a number of rights over their land, such as: Building a home or conducting a business upon the land; Selling or subdividing the land; or. Passing it down in a Will when they die.
Fee simple is a term that refers to real estate or land ownership.
The owner of the property has full and irrevocable ownership of the land and any buildings on that land.
He is free to do whatever he wishes on the land subject to local zoning ordinances.
Fee simple and fee simple absolute are the same thing.
Fee simple is the highest form of property ownership in most countries.
Deeper definition
The term fee simple only applies to real estate.
Real estate includes land, immovable property and any property directly attached, such as a building, road, pond or machinery.
When the owner dies, property covered by fee simple forms part of the owner’s estate.
It is then passed on to those who inherit the estate.
Fee simple was the dominant form of property ownership in the Commonwealth of Australia before the trespass against us.
However Fee simple is not the only way in which land can be legally occupied.
It can be leased from the owner.
A lease, also known as leasehold estate, is a written agreement between the owner (lessor) of the property and the leaseholder (lessee) that permits the property to be occupied under certain conditions and for a certain period of time.
This type of lease is often called a ground lease and permits the tenant to occupy and develop the property during the period of the lease.
The leaseholder may sell the lease to another. The leaseholder usually will be required to make periodic lease payments to the owner of the property as a condition of the lease.
At the end of a lease, the land and all fixed property, including improvements made by the lessee, reverts back to the owner.
A particular form of lease is a life lease, which remains until the lessee dies.
This type of lease is often used in senior housing.
It provides the right to occupy the property while the leaseholder is alive.
Thereafter, the property reverts back to the owner.
In the instance of condominiums or apartments, the owners of individual units receive fee simple ownership that gives the owners full legal rights subject to an agreement known as a restrictive covenant.
The owners share common rights for the use of public areas and also carry certain obligations toward its upkeep.
When you buy a home, you usually purchase it fee simple.
This means you own the property and all rights to its use, and you are permitted to develop the land and buildings on the property subject to local ordinances.
Your name is on the title deeds.
When you buy a home with a mortgage, the company that grants your mortgage is known as the lien holder.
This lien holder shares an ownership interest in your home until you pay off your mortgage and, should you default, has the legal right to take possession of the property.
So indeed Put simply, fee simple ownership is ‘complete ownership’ and grants land owners a number of rights over their land, such as: Building a home or conducting a business upon the land; Selling or subdividing the land; or Passing it down in a Will when they die.
So how did it work.
First you find land you want to purchase then you purchased the land ,however you were also asked to pay a tax or stamp duty tax depending on jurisdiction for purchasing such land ,this is a fee paid in simple for owership or lease from the crown.
As the new owner of the land paid in fee simple you now have the rights to the land as explained in the beginning of this article.
So the question is why are people paying rates on a property that they have purchased already in fee simple .
You own the land,for you own the life lease from the crown for the land already.
One must also Remember Fee simple owership grants you ownership of the property however only the surface of said property upto a certain amount of feet below it.
Anything under a certain amount of feet belongs to the Crown Commonwealth (the people)
People need to wake up to the trespass.
What Is a Fee Simple Absolute Estate?
When a person owns a fee simple absolute estate interest, that person has the absolute right to use the land, possess it, dispose of it (through sale, will, gift, or in any other manner), and even damage it.
In short, a fee simple absolute estate interest is the greatest and highest property ownership estate and recognized by common law.
There are no restrictions on the fee simple absolute estate interest. The estate does not terminate automatically and there is no event that will cause ownership of the property to revert back to the grantor.
The term fee simple absolute was coined because this estate in land never automatically terminates. In fact, the estate right can survive throughout the entire life of the property owner, and then be transferred to the heirs of the property owner after his or her death.
The fee simple absolute ownership interest also allows for a property owner to convey the accompanying water rights, convey the accompanying mineral interests, or grant an easement right across the land.
Fee simple absolute is often referred to as free hold land.
This where you the owner own not just the property but everything under it .
One must also comprehend how all this ties back to medi evil times,back to the origins of feudalism and the creation of the first state corporation of london ,this we shall discuss in another article.
http://joshblackman.com/blog/2013/02/12/prop1-class-9-fee-simple-and-fee-tail/