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Unowned property
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Property that lacks an owner
Part of a series onProperty law<br>Types of property<br>Real property
Personal property
Intangible property
Unowned property
Acquisition of title<br>Gift
Adverse possession
Accession
Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property
Treasure trove
Escheat
Alienation
Conquest
Discovery
Estates in land<br>Allodial title
Freehold<br>Fee simple
Fee tail
Life estate
Defeasible estate
Leasehold estate
Land tenure
Future interest<br>remainder
Concurrent ownership<br>Concurrent estate<br>Joint tenancy
Tenancy in common
Community property
Strata title
Condominium
Conveyancing & registration<br>Deed<br>Quitclaim deed
Torrens title
Deeds registration
Bona fide purchaser
Equitable conversion
Action to quiet title
Estoppel by deed
Mortgage
Future use control<br>Restraint on alienation
Rule against perpetuities
Rule in Shelley's Case
Doctrine of worthier title
Nonpossessory interests<br>Easement
Profit à prendre
Covenant
Equitable servitude
Lien
Usufruct
License
Equity and Trusts<br>Equitable interest
Beneficial ownership
Resulting trust
Constructive trust
Indigenous land rights<br>Aboriginal title
Indigenous land rights
Related topics<br>Bailment
Fixtures
Waste
Partition
Real estate
Mineral rights
Water rights<br>prior appropriation
riparian
Lateral and subjacent support
Assignment
Conflict of property laws
Property rights
Nemo dat
Quicquid plantatur
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Unowned property includes tangible, physical things that are capable of being reduced to being property owned by a person but are not owned by anyone. Bona vacantia (Latin for "ownerless goods") is a legal concept associated with the unowned property, which exists in various jurisdictions, with a consequently varying application, but with origins mostly in English law.
Nearly every piece of land on the Earth is a property and has a maintainer (owner). The class of objects, "unowned things", are objects which are not yet property; either because it has been agreed by sovereign nations that no one can own them, or because no person, or other entity, has made a claim of ownership. The most common unowned things are asteroids.[citation needed] The UN's Outer Space Treaty does not address the issue of private ownership of natural objects in space. All asteroids remain unowned things until some person or entity makes a claim of property right to one of them.
In an experimental legal case of first impression, a lawsuit for a declaratory judgment was filed in a United States Federal Court to determine the lawful owner of Asteroid 433 Eros. 433 Eros was claimed as property by Gregory W. Nemitz of Orbital Development. According to the homestead principle, Nemitz argued that he had the right to claim ownership of any celestial body that he made use of; he claimed he had designated Eros a spacecraft parking facility and wished to charge NASA a parking and storage fee of twenty cents per year for its NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft that is permanently stored there. Nemitz's case was dismissed due to lack of standing and an appeal denied.[1]
Ferae naturae<br>[edit]
Ferae naturae (lit. "wild animals of nature") is a Latin legal term referring to wild animals, in contrast to domitae naturae (lit. "tamed [animals] of nature").[2]
In property law, ferae naturae residing on unowned real property are not predisposed to one party or another in regards to possession.
See: Pierson v. Post (3 Cai. R. 175, 2 Am. Dec. 264) (Supreme Court of New York 1805)
In the event that the animals are on a private entity's estate, the owner of the estate, if pursuing or attempting to apprehend ferae naturae is likely to be deemed, by the court, the rightful possessor to the title of the animal.
See: Keeble v Hickeringill, 11 East 574, 103 Eng. Rep. 1127 OR 3 Salk. 9 (as Keeble v Hickeringhall)<br>Queen's Bench, 1707
Canada<br>[edit]
Bona vacantia is applied according to the laws of the relevant province, and the roots of the laws may be traced to Roman law.
New Zealand<br>[edit]
Similarly to England, unclaimed money will mostly escheat to the Crown[3] who may then make further distribution. Unclaimed property other than money might also be claimed on behalf of the Crown but (as with the UK jurisdictions) this is not inevitable.[4]
United Kingdom<br>[edit]
England and Wales<br>[edit]
Bona vacantia is partly a common law doctrine and partly found in statute. It deals with:
Assets of dissolved companies that have failed to be distributed[5] or have been disclaimed by the official receiver.
Assets of dissolved unincorporated associations that have failed to be distributed
Assets of the estates of deceased persons that have failed to be distributed...