Editing Allodial title (section)

{{short description|Ownership of real property that is independent of any superior landlord}}	
{{Disputed|date=January 2012}}
{{Property law}}

'''Allodial title''' constitutes ownership of [[real property]] (land, buildings, and [[Fixture (property law)|fixtures]]) that is independent of any superior landlord. Allodial title is related to the concept of land held "in allodium", or land ownership by occupancy and defense of the land.

Most property ownership in [[common law]] jurisdictions is [[fee simple]]. In the United States, the land is subject to [[eminent domain]] by federal, state and local government, and subject to the imposition of taxes by state and/or local governments, and there is thus no true allodial land. Some states within the U.S. (notably, Nevada and Texas) have provisions for considering land allodial under state law, and the term may be used in other circumstances.<ref>For example, the Constitution of the State of Minnesota states that "All lands within the state are allodial and feudal tenures of every description with all their incidents are prohibited." [https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/constitution/ Constitution of the State of Minnesota].</ref> Land is "held of [[the Crown]]" in [[England and Wales]] and other jurisdictions in the [[Commonwealth realm]]s. Some land in the [[Orkney]] and [[Shetland]] Islands, known as [[Udal law|udal land]], is held in a manner akin to allodial land in that these titles are not subject to the ultimate ownership of the Crown.

In France, while allodial title existed before the [[French Revolution]], it was rare and limited to [[Roman Catholic Church|ecclesiastical]] properties and property that had fallen out of feudal ownership. After the French Revolution allodial title became the norm in France and other [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] countries that were under [[Napoleon]]ic legal influences. In October 1854, the [[Seigneurial system of New France|seigneurial system]] of [[Lower Canada]], which had been ceded from France to Britain in 1763 at the conclusion of the [[Seven Years' War]], was extinguished by the Seigneurial Tenures Abolition Act of October 1854, and a form similar to [[socage]] replaced it.

Property owned under allodial title is referred to as allodial land, allodium, or an [[allod]]. In the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 it is called alod.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britainexpress.com/History/domesday-terms.htm|title=Domesday Book glossary|first=Britain|last=Express|website=Britain Express}}</ref> Historically, allodial title was sometimes used to distinguish ownership of land without feudal duties from ownership by [[feudal land tenure|feudal tenure]] which restricted [[alienation (property law)|alienation]] and burdened land with the tenurial rights of a landholder's [[lord|overlord]] or [[monarch|sovereign]].