Land Law in Kenya
CLASSIFICATION OF INTERESTIS IN LAND:
DOCTRINE OF TENURE AND DOCTRINE OF ESTATES
a) freehold estates: freehold of inheritance ( fee-simple and fee-tail)
b) freehold not of inheritance( life estate and estate par autre vie)
Classification of interests in land
Definition of Interests in Land
What is an interest in Land?
Definition
An interest in land according to The Registered Land Act Cap 300 is defined as follows: “interest” in land includes absolute ownership of land.
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, interest with regard to land law is defined as a legal share in something; all or part of a legal or equitable claim to or right in property that is, right, title, and interest. Collectively, the word includes any aggregation of rights, privileges, powers, and immunities.
Oxford defines interest as interest with regard to land law as a right in or over land. It may comprise equitable ownership of the land such as the interest of the tenant for life under a settlement, where the legal estate is owned by trustees; or the benefit of some other right over the land of another, such as an easement or rent charge.
In all these definitions, the characteristics of rights over the land, ownership and title are key features of interests in land.
We should therefore examine these three to develop a full understanding of what interests in land really are.
Rights over Land
Definition
A right over land is the exclusive liberty and privilege to enjoy land due to the individuals with legal shares in the land.
Land here is perceived as the following definitions:
Section 2 of the RTA defines land as including ‘land and benefits to arise out of land or things embedded or rooted in the earth, or attached to what is so embedded for the permanent beneficial enjoyment of that to which it is so attached, or permanently fastened to anything so embedded, rooted or attached, or any estate or interest therein, together with all paths, passages, ways, waters,
DOCTRINE OF TENURE AND DOCTRINE OF ESTATES
a) freehold estates: freehold of inheritance ( fee-simple and fee-tail)
b) freehold not of inheritance( life estate and estate par autre vie)
Classification of interests in land
Definition of Interests in Land
What is an interest in Land?
Definition
An interest in land according to The Registered Land Act Cap 300 is defined as follows: “interest” in land includes absolute ownership of land.
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, interest with regard to land law is defined as a legal share in something; all or part of a legal or equitable claim to or right in property that is, right, title, and interest. Collectively, the word includes any aggregation of rights, privileges, powers, and immunities.
Oxford defines interest as interest with regard to land law as a right in or over land. It may comprise equitable ownership of the land such as the interest of the tenant for life under a settlement, where the legal estate is owned by trustees; or the benefit of some other right over the land of another, such as an easement or rent charge.
In all these definitions, the characteristics of rights over the land, ownership and title are key features of interests in land.
We should therefore examine these three to develop a full understanding of what interests in land really are.
Rights over Land
Definition
A right over land is the exclusive liberty and privilege to enjoy land due to the individuals with legal shares in the land.
Land here is perceived as the following definitions:
Section 2 of the RTA defines land as including ‘land and benefits to arise out of land or things embedded or rooted in the earth, or attached to what is so embedded for the permanent beneficial enjoyment of that to which it is so attached, or permanently fastened to anything so embedded, rooted or attached, or any estate or interest therein, together with all paths, passages, ways, waters,