There is no allodial title as you are thinking of it, although I understand the term is sometimes used in eastern states to distinquish the rights of the owner from earlier feudal obligations.
The state of Nevada issues an instrument it calls allodial title, if the owner holds the property free and clear of all debts and pays to the state of Nevada what amounts to a bond for future taxes.
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hmm... I did some brief research on this some time ago, but it is quite a confusing area. Apparently there are certain lands in the east and especially in teh west that have legal titles going back to the good old days and thus have special privillages.
Although I think its slightly different, the land of Amish groups and Indian reservations fall in this legal realm.
If anyone has any expertise in this area I'd like to know more about it.
I wonder how prevalent this sort of thing is in Nevada or if it's just used by a small minority of legally connected libertarian types.
The “alloidal” right of property ownership did not exist in English common law, because all land belonged to the sovereign. There were grants of alloidal property for churches and schools making them exempt from taxes to the crown. There is no right of inheritance with this type of estate. You can think of as a right granted to an institution, not an individual.
The American concept of individual property ownership was a very radical departure from the English standard. The Treaty of Paris granted the territory of the colonies as alloidal, meaning that no property holder had an obligation to the crown, using the old term that applied in England to church estates, etc.
Our “fee simple” property rights and descriptions of land title, however, do follow the pattern created in England. “Fee” comes from the word “Fief” and simply means the rights belonging to an estate. The word “estate” really describes the rights that come with the land, rather than the land itself.
“Fee simple” is today’s most comprehensive right of estate and in English law it simply meant a type of estate with no obligations to the crown, such as the payment of a portion of rents, or crops, the obligation to provide quarters, etc. It includes the right of transfer to heirs.
To really comprehend this, you have to realize that an estate is not the land. An estate is the description of rights that come with the ownership.
Confused yet? Your property rights consist of: 1. Possession. The right to live on the property and the right to keep others out. 2. Use. The right to use property, within the law, in any way, or for any purpose. 3. Enjoyment. The right to peace and quiet without being bothered by others. 4. Encumber. The right to borrow money and use the property as security for a loan. 5. Transfer. The right to sell property, give it as a gift or dispose of it in any way permitted by law.
That is your estate. Those are your property rights in a fee simple estate. Notice that these rights do not include freedom from taxes!
The Nevada situation is interesting. Nevada is undergoing a huge revamp in it’s real estate regulations.
Because of the high increase in property values, Nevada created an “alloidal” title. It’s basically a calculation of the future tax obligation based on the current value of the property.
(But that’s not really the original use of the word “alloidal” is it?) The youngest owner of the property pays a tax bond based on the current value and his life expectancy. The taxes are paid by the Secretary of State from a trust fund. In Nevada, as I understand it, the title can be passed to one heir. The property cannot be liened (so don’t count on hiring a contractor) and it cannot be mortgaged.
I’ve heard there is also an “alloidal” title in Texas, but I don’t know anything about it.
Hope I didn’t bore you with all this! (I’m a bit of a nut on this stuff.)