The ownership of a thing is the right of one or more persons to possess and use it to the exclusion of others. In this Code, the thing of which there may be ownership is called property.
Property in GeneralNature of Property
Section § 654
This law explains that owning something means you have the right to control and use it without others being able to interfere. In legal terms, anything that can be owned is called property.
ownership right to possess use of property
Section § 655
This section says that people can own things that can be physically taken or delivered, like objects and domestic animals. It also includes ownership of obligations, products of someone's work or talent, like writings or brands, and rights granted by law.
There may be ownership of all inanimate things which are capable of appropriation or of manual delivery; of all domestic animals; of all obligations; of such products of labor or skill as the composition of an author, the good will of a business, trade marks and signs, and of rights created or granted by statute.
ownership domestic animals obligations
Section § 656
This law states that wild animals can be owned by a person if they are on that person's land, if the person has tamed them, if the person has caught and physically possesses them, or if the animal has been injured and is being followed immediately.
Animals wild by nature are the subjects of ownership, while living, only when on the land of the person claiming them, or when tamed, or taken and held in possession, or disabled and immediately pursued.
wild animals ownership tamed animals
Section § 657
Property in California is classified into two main categories: real property, which is immovable like land or buildings, and personal property, which is movable like cars or furniture.
Property is either:
l. Real or immovable; or,
2. Personal or movable.
real property immovable personal property
Section § 658
This section explains what counts as real estate or immovable property. It includes land, things attached to land, things related to the land, and anything that can't be moved by law. However, if crops or other things on the land are meant to be separated before they're sold, they're treated as goods instead of real estate.
Real or immovable property consists of:
l. Land;
2. That which is affixed to land;
3. That which is incidental or appurtenant to land;
4. That which is immovable by law; except that for the purposes of sale, emblements, industrial growing crops and things attached to or forming part of the land, which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale, shall be treated as goods and be governed by the
provisions of the title of this code regulating the sales of goods.
real property immovable property land
Section § 659
This law defines land as not only the soil and rocks but also the space above and below the ground. This includes airspace too, though there are laws that limit how you can use that airspace.
Land is the material of the earth, whatever may be the ingredients of which it is composed, whether soil, rock, or other substance, and includes free or occupied space for an indefinite distance upwards as well as downwards, subject to limitations upon the use of airspace imposed, and rights in the use of airspace granted, by law.
land definition soil rock
Section § 660
This law explains when something is considered attached to the land. It includes items like trees and buildings that are permanently connected to the land. However, it makes an exception for crops intended to be sold separately from the land, which are treated like goods instead of part of the land.
A thing is deemed to be affixed to land when it is attached to it by roots, as in the case of trees, vines, or shrubs; or imbedded in it, as in the case of walls; or permanently resting upon it, as in the case of buildings; or permanently attached to what is thus permanent, as by means of cement, plaster, nails, bolts, or screws; except that for the purposes of sale, emblements, industrial growing crops and things attached to or forming part of the land, which are agreed to be severed before sale or under the contract of sale, shall be treated as goods and be governed by the provisions of the title of this code regulating the sales of goods.
affixed to land trees vines
Section § 662
This law explains that something is considered a part of the land, or 'appurtenant,' if it is used with the land for its benefit. This can include things like pathways, waterways, or access for light, air, or heat across someone else's land.
A thing is deemed to be incidental or appurtenant to land when it is by right used with the land for its benefit, as in the case of a way, or watercourse, or of a passage for light, air, or heat from or across the land of another.
incidental to land appurtenant land use
