PERSONAL PROPERTY
200. Personal Property in General. Personal property is the term applied to property other than real estate. It may be either tangible or intangible. Personal property is sometimes divided into chattels real and chattels personal. Chattels real are interests in real estate not amounting to ownership. Real estate mortgages and leases are common examples of chattels real. Chattels personal embrace all personal property other than chattels real. Every thing subject to ownership not connected with the land is included in the classification of chattels personal. Promissory notes, personal apparel, furniture, tools and animals are common examples. Chattels personal are of a tangible, or of an intangible nature. They are mere rights, or they are things which may be handled and used. A promissory note, a contract, or a mortgage is a right as distinguished from a thing in possession. These rights are sometimes called choses in action, while tangible articles of personal property, such as watches, chairs and horses are called choses in possession. The law relating to personal property is discussed at length under the sections on Sales of Personal Property, Pledges, Chattel Mortgages, Carriers and Wills.
201. Acquisition of Title and Transfer of Personal Property. Title to personal property may be acquired in several ways, chief among them being by contract, by possession, by gift, and by operation of law. If A purchases a carriage from B, the transaction is a sale of personal property and A is entitled to possession of the carriage by reason of the contract. Title to the carriage is given to A by contract. Title to some kinds of property is acquired by possession. Title to wild animals is acquired by possession. The same is true of fish. Title to lost property, except as against the owner, is acquired by possession. Title to property is also acquired by voluntary gift on the part of the owner.
If A dies possessed of articles of personal property, the property passes to his personal representative to be turned into money to pay A's debt, or to be distributed in the form of money, or without being sold, to A's descendant designated by law. This is known as acquiring personal property by succession, or by operation of law. Personal property may also be transferred in specie by will.