5.1 Estates and Interests in Land
Key Takeaways
Classify a potential fixture by the degree and objective purpose of its attachment, then check what the parties agreed to include or exclude.
Fee simple can continue indefinitely and is subject to private interests and public law.
A life estate ends when the measuring life ends. Identify who holds the future interest and whether it is vested or contingent.
An occupied subsisting lease of at most three years can bind a buyer under Land Titles Act section 61(1)(d). Check the tenancy and promised possession separately.
Distinguish land, fixtures and personal goods
Real property includes estates in land, buildings and fixtures, and interests such as an easement. Tangible personal property includes movable goods such as a freestanding table. The fixture analysis asks how the item is attached and what the attachment objectively serves. An item resting by its own weight starts as a chattel. Physical fastening suggests a fixture. Either inference can change with evidence of the degree and purpose of attachment. In Cansearch Resources Ltd. v. Regent Resources Ltd., the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench explained that objective evidence can make even a slight attachment significant.
| Observation | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| Custom cabinetry recessed into a wall and bolted to framing | Integration and purpose both suggest a permanent improvement. |
| Hardwired chandelier installed as the room’s permanent light | Its wiring and intended role support fixture treatment. Its value as a family heirloom does not determine the result. |
| Freestanding appliance connected for ordinary operation | The connection can facilitate use of the appliance. Inspect the installation and state any inclusion expressly. |
| Equipment installed for a tenant’s business | Check the lease, purpose of installation, removal rights and restoration terms. Tenant removal rights can differ from those of an owner selling the land. |
The January 2026 AREA form lets parties list unattached goods included and attached goods excluded. Record the parties’ agreement in those fields or in an appropriate amendment. For example, identify a chandelier the seller plans to take and whether they must install a replacement. For equipment supplied under a lease or financing arrangement, verify ownership and obligations. Clause 6.1(c) addresses third-party rights in the included goods.
Identify present and future interests
Fee simple is the most extensive ordinary freehold estate. It can continue indefinitely and is ordinarily transferable during life or through the estate. Its holder can possess, use, exclude others and deal with the estate subject to matters such as leases, easements, covenants, mortgages, Crown reservations, land-use controls and applicable tax or expropriation law. Check which interests the owner actually holds. Surface ownership alone does not establish ownership of minerals or water rights. If a fee simple owner dies intestate, follow Alberta’s statutory distribution rules. If no heir is entitled, section 69 of the Wills and Succession Act directs the estate to the separate unclaimed and vested property regime.
A life estate gives a present possessory interest measured by a life. A life estate measured by someone else’s life is called pur autre vie. If the grant is to Jordan for Jordan’s life, Jordan’s life is the measure. If the grant is to Jordan for Lee’s life, the estate ends when Lee dies, even if Jordan survives. A reversion is the grantor’s retained future interest. A remainder is a future interest granted to another person. If the registered conveyance gives Jordan a life estate and Morgan the unconditional fee simple remainder, Morgan’s interest is vested and possession is postponed until the life estate ends. A condition such as Morgan attaining a stated age can make the remainder contingent, depending on the instrument.
A life tenant can generally enjoy ordinary use and income within the grant. Alterations or depletion can raise a waste claim. For example, routine rental income and clearing previously unharvested mature woodland for sale raise different issues. Check the grant, previous use, any express timber rights and whether the act diminishes the future interest. Section 71 of the Law of Property Act preserves the rule against equitable waste even where the grant excuses waste, unless the grant expressly confers that right. Section 72 permits an injunction in a pending matter to prevent threatened waste. Expense allocation and powers to bind the future interest depend on the governing instrument and law.
Determine what possession means for the sale
A lease gives exclusive possession within its terms and leaves the landlord with the reversion. A fixed term has an agreed end date. Under RTA section 15 it ordinarily ends without notice to terminate. A periodic tenancy repeats until properly ended. Notice periods and grounds depend on the tenancy and the party giving notice. A tenancy at will describes consensual occupation without an agreed fixed or periodic term. Tenancy at sufferance describes a person who entered lawfully and stays after the right to possession ends without renewed consent. Verify conduct, any accepted rent, the contract and statutory process. Section 13 supplies a default period if a periodic RTA tenancy is implied after a fixed term.
Legal and equitable interests can coexist. A buyer may have enforceable contractual or equitable rights before registration, and a trust beneficiary may have a beneficial interest. Under Land Titles Act sections 53–54, registration ordinarily passes the legal estate, subject to the short-lease exception. An occupied subsisting lease of at most three years can bind a purchaser under section 61(1)(d). A lease for a life or more than three years engages section 95’s form and, on mortgaged land, its mortgagee-consent or adoption rule. Check the RTA successor provisions and actual tenancy before promising vacant possession. A buyer with a potential equitable interest should ask counsel whether it can be protected by caveat.
Alberta Land Titles Act · Wills and Succession Act · Law of Property Act · Residential Tenancies Act · Cansearch Resources, 2017 ABQB 535, paras. 65–67 · AREA January 2026 purchase contract
The seller says a freestanding electric range can stay. It connects to an ordinary wall receptacle and is easily moved, and the buyer wants it included. How should the buyer’s associate handle it in the January 2026 AREA purchase contract?
Assume it stays automatically because it plugs into the building.
List the range among the included unattached goods and verify that the seller can transfer it.
List it as an excluded attached good and rely on the seller’s verbal assurance.
Use the legal land description to show that the range is part of the property.
A registered grant gives Priya possession for Lionel’s life and gives Sam the unconditional fee simple remainder. Lionel dies while Priya is alive. Who becomes entitled to possession under the grant?
Priya’s estate, because she was the life tenant.
Lionel’s estate, because his life measured the term.
Priya, until her own death or voluntary surrender.
Sam, because the measuring life has ended.
A purchaser wants vacant possession of a home. The seller produces an unregistered two-year residential lease, still in effect, and the tenant actually occupies the property. What should the associate do?
Review the lease, possession terms and tenancy law with the broker and refer any unresolved issue to counsel before promising vacancy.
Advise that the buyer’s registration will end the lease on Completion Day.
Assume the tenancy has become periodic because the agreement is unregistered.
Require the tenant to move when the buyer’s purchase conditions are removed.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.