View source for Personal property

{{Short description|Property which can be moved from one location to another}}
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'''Personal property''' is [[property]] that is movable.<ref>{{cite dictionary |last=Palgrave |first=Robert Harry Inglis |author-link=Inglis Palgrave |title=Personal property |dictionary=Dictionary of political economy |volume=3 |date=1908 |page=96}}</ref> In [[common law]] systems, personal property may also be called '''chattels''' or '''personalty'''. In [[civil law (legal system)|civil law]] systems, personal property is often called '''movable property''' or '''movables'''—any property that can be moved from one location to another.

Personal property can be understood in comparison to [[real estate]], immovable property or [[real property]] (such as land and buildings).

Movable property on land (larger [[livestock]], for example) was not automatically sold with the land; it was "personal" to the owner and moved with the owner.

The word ''cattle'' is the Old [[Norman language|Norman]] variant of [[Old French]] ''chatel'', chattel (derived from Latin ''capitalis'', "of the head"), which was once synonymous with general movable personal property.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chattel |title=Origin of chattel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814050019/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chattel |archive-date=14 August 2009 |access-date=August 15, 2009}}</ref>

== Classifications ==
Personal property may be classified in a variety of ways.

=== Intangible ===
Intangible personal property or "intangibles" refers to personal property that cannot actually be moved, touched or felt, but instead represents something of value such as [[negotiable instrument]]s, [[security (finance)|securities]], [[service (economics)]], and [[intangible asset]]s including [[Chose (English law)|chose in action]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=personal property Legal Definition |url=https://dictionary.lawyerment.com/topic/personal_property/ |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=dictionary.lawyerment.com |language=en}}</ref>

=== Tangible ===
Tangible personal property refers to any type of property that can generally be moved (i.e., it is not attached to real property or land), touched or felt. These generally include items such as furniture, clothing, jewelry, sunglasses, eyeglasses, art, writings, or household goods. In some cases, there can be formal title documents that show the ownership and transfer rights of that property after a person's death (for example, motor vehicles, boats, etcetera) In many cases, however, tangible personal property will not be "titled" in an owner's name and is presumed to be whatever property he or she was in possession of at the time of his or her death.<ref>{{Cite web |title=tangible personal property |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/tangible_personal_property |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}}</ref>

=== Other distinctions ===
Accountants distinguish personal property from real property because personal property can be [[depreciate]]d faster than improvements (while land is not depreciable at all). It is an owner's right to get tax benefits for chattel, and there are businesses that specialize in appraising personal property, or chattel.

The distinction between these types of property is significant for a variety of reasons. Usually, one's rights on movables are more attenuated than one's rights on immovables (or real property). The [[statute of limitations|statutes of limitations]] or [[prescriptive period]]s are usually shorter when dealing with personal or movable property. Real property rights are usually enforceable for a much longer period of time and in most jurisdictions real estate and immovables are registered in government-sanctioned land registers. In some jurisdictions, rights (such as a [[lien]] or other security interest) can be registered against personal or movable property.

In common law, it is possible to place a [[mortgage law|mortgage]] upon real property. Such a mortgage requires payment, or the owner of the mortgage can seek [[foreclosure]]. Personal property can often be secured with a similar kind of device, variously called a ''[[chattel mortgage]]'', a ''trust receipt'', or a ''[[security interest]]''. In the United States, Article 9 of the [[Uniform Commercial Code]] governs the creation and enforcement of security interests in most (but not all) types of personal property.

There is no similar institution to the mortgage in the civil law, however a [[hypothec]] is a device to secure [[real right]]s against property. These real rights follow the property along with the ownership. In common law a lien also remains on the property, and it is not extinguished by alienation of the property; liens may be real or [[Equity (law)|equitable]].

Many jurisdictions levy a personal [[property tax]], an annual tax on the privilege of owning or possessing personal property within the boundaries of the jurisdiction. Automobile and boat registration fees are a subset of this tax. Most household goods are exempt as long as they are kept or used within the household.

The distinction between tangible and intangible personal property is also significant in some of the jurisdictions which impose sales taxes. In Canada, for example, provincial and federal sales taxes were imposed primarily on sales of tangible personal property whereas sales of intangibles tended to be exempt. The move to value added taxes, under which almost all transactions are taxable, has diminished the significance of the distinction.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-15 |title=Understanding Canadian Tax Law {{!}} 2022 Guide |url=https://www.fasken.com/en/knowledge/doing-business-canada/2021/10/7-taxation |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=www.fasken.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Personal vis-à-vis private property ==
* [[Marxism|Marxists]] argue that private property is a [[social relation]]ship between the owner and persons deprived, i.e., not a relationship between person and thing. Private property may include artifacts, factories, mines, dams, infrastructure, natural vegetation, mountains, deserts, and seas—these generate capital for the owner without the owner necessarily having to perform any physical labor. Conversely, those who perform labor using somebody else's private property are considered deprived of the value of their work in Marxist theory. Instead, they are given a salary that is disjointed from the value generated by the worker.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-26 |title=Marx's Theory of Alienation |url=https://simplysociology.com/marx-alienation.html |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=Simply Sociology |language=en-US}}</ref>
* Personal property, or ''[[Possession (law)|possessions]]'', includes "items intended for personal use" (e.g., one's [[toothbrush]], clothes, and vehicles, and rarely, money). The owner has a [[Distributive justice|distributive right]] to exclude others (i.e., the right to command a "fair share" of personal property).
* In [[Anarchism|anarchist]] theory, ''private property'' typically refers to capital or the [[means of production]], whereas ''personal property'' refers to consumer and non-capital goods and services.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://anarchism.pageabode.com/afaq/secB3.html#secb31 |chapter=B.3 Why are anarchists against private property? |title=An Anarchist FAQ |volume=1 |editor-first=Iain |editor-last=McKay |via=Anarchist Writers |date=10 November 2008 |access-date=29 April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114010322/http://anarchism.pageabode.com/afaq/secB3.html#secb31|archive-date=14 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/02/socialism-marxism-private-property-person-lennon-imagine-kenny-loggins/ |title=End Private Property, Not Kenny Loggins |magazine=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |access-date=29 April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026190844/https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/02/socialism-marxism-private-property-person-lennon-imagine-kenny-loggins/ |archive-date=26 October 2017}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Law}}
* [[Chattel house]]
* [[Communal property]]
* ''[[Jus relictae]]''
* [[Secured transaction]]
* [[State property]]
* [[Trespass to chattels]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2013C00604 Australia Personal Property Securities Act 2009]
* [http://www.ppsr.gov.au/ Personal Property Securities Register Australia]
* [https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/morocco.pdf United States Tax Convention with the Kingdom of Morocco 1977] (PDF)
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Chattel|volume=6|page=9|short=y}}

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[[Category:Personal property law| ]]
[[Category:Property law]]