possession

Having control over a thing with the intent to have and to exercise such control. Oswald v. Weigel, 219 Kan. 616, 549 P.2d 568, 569.

The detention and control, or the manual or ideal custody, of anything which may be the subject of property, for one's use and enjoyment, either as owner or as the proprietor of a qualified right in it, and either held personally or by another who exercises it in one's place and name.

Act or state of possessing. That condition of facts under which one can exercise his power over a corporeal thing at his pleasure to the exclusion of all other persons. The law, in general, recognizes two kinds of possession: actual possession and constructive possession.

A person who knowingly has direct physical control over a thing, at a given time, is then in actual possession of it.

A person who, although not in actual possession, knowingly has both the power and the intention at a given time to exercise dominion or control over a thing, either directly or through another person or persons, is then in constructive possession of it. The law recognizes also that possession may be sole or joint. If one person alone has actual or constructive possession of a thing, possession is sole. If two or more persons share actual or constructive possession of a thing, possession is joint.

Generally, "possession" within context of title insurance policies refers to open, visible and exclusive use. Happy Canyon Inv. Co. v. Title Ins. Co. of Minnesota, Colo.App., 560 P.2d 839, 842.

See also adverse possession

- constructive possession

- contentious possession

- exclusive possession

- hold

- notorious possession

- occupancy

- repossession.

@ actual possession

Exists where the thing is in the immediate occupancy and physical control of the party. Field Furniture Co. v. Community Loan Co., 257 Ky. 825, 79 S.W.2d 211, 215.

See also general definition of possession.

@

- adverse possession

@ chose in possession

A thing (subject of personal property) in actual possession, as distinguished from a "chose in action," which is not presently in the owner's possession, but which he has a right to demand, receive, or recover by suit.

+ chose in possession

A personal thing of which one has possession. A thing in possession, as distinguished from a thing in action. Taxes and customs, if paid, are a chose in possession; if unpaid, a chose in action.

See also chose in action

@ civil possession

In modern civil law and in the law of Louisiana, that possession which exists when a person ceases to reside in a house or on the land which he occupied, or to detain the movable which he possessed, but without intending to abandon the possession. It is the detention of a thing by virtue of a just title and under the conviction of possessing as owner. A fiction resulting from the registry of the title of the original owner.

@ constructive possession

Possession not actual but assumed to exist, where one claims to hold by virtue of some title, without having the actual occupancy, as, where the owner of a tract of land, regularly laid out, is in possession of a part, he is constructively in possession of the whole.

+ constructive possession

A person has constructive possession of property if he has power to control and intent to control such item. Com. v. Stephens, 231 Pa.Super. 481, 331 A.2d 719, 723.

Exists where one does not have physical custody or possession, but is in a position to exercise dominion or control over a thing. U. S. v. DiNovo, C.A.Ind., 523 F.2d 197, 201

See also general definition of possession.

@ corporeal possession

The continuing exercise of a claim to the exclusive use of a material thing. The elements of this possession are first, the mental attitude of the claimant, the intent to possess, to appropriate to oneself; and second, the effective realization of this attitude. All the authorities agree that an intent to exclude others must coexist with the external facts, and must be fulfilled in the external physical facts in order to constitute possession.

@

Criminal law.

Possession as necessary for conviction of offense of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute may be constructive as well as actual, U. S. v. Craig, C.A.Tenn., 522 F.2d 29, 31; as well as joint or exclusive, Garvey v. State, 176 Ga.App. 268, 335 S.E.2d 640, 647. The defendants must have had dominion and control over the contraband with knowledge of its presence and character. U. S. v. Morando-Alvarez, C.A. Ariz., 520 F.2d 882, 884.

See also possess.

Possession, as an element of offense of stolen goods, is not limited to actual manual control upon or about the person, but extends to things under one's power and dominion. McConnell v. State, 48 Ala.App. 523, 266 So.2d 328, 333.

Possession as used in indictment charging possession of stolen mail may mean actual possession or constructive possession. U. S. v. Ellison, C.A.Cal., 469 F.2d 413, 415.

To constitute "possession" of a concealable weapon under statute proscribing possession of a concealable weapon by a felon, it is sufficient that defendant have constructive possession and immediate access to the weapon. State v. Kelley, 12 Or.App. 496, 507 P.2d 837, 839.

@ derivative possession

The kind of possession of one who is in the lawful occupation or custody of the property, but not under a claim of title of his own, but under a right derived from another, as, for example, a tenant, bailee, licensee, etc.

@ dispossession

The act of ousting or removing one from the possession of property previously held by him, which may be tortious and unlawful, as in the case of a forcible amotion, or in pursuance of law, as where a landlord "dispossesses" his tenant at the expiration of the term or for other cause by the aid of judicial process.

+ dispossession

Ouster; a wrong that carries with it the amotion of possession. An act whereby the wrongdoer gets the actual occupation of the land or hereditament. It includes abatement, intrusion, disseisin, discontinuance, deforcement

See dispossess proceedings

- ejectment

- eviction

- process (summary process).

@ estate in possession

An estate whereby a present interest passes to and resides in the tenant, not depending on any subsequent circumstance or contingency. An estate where the tenant is in actual pernancy, or receipt of the rents and other advantages arising therefrom.

@

- exclusive possession.

@ hostile possession

This term, as applied to an occupant of real estate holding adversely, is not construed as implying actual emnity or ill will, but merely means that he claims to hold the possession in the character of an owner, and therefore denies all validity to claims set up by any and all other persons.

See adverse possession.

@ naked possession

The actual occupation of real estate, but without any apparent or colorable right to hold and continue such possession; spoken of as the lowest and most imperfect degree of title.

@ natural possession

That by which a man detains a thing corporeally, as, by occupying a house, cultivating ground, or retaining a movable in possession; natural possession is also defined to be the corporeal detention of a thing which we possess as belonging to us, without any title to that possession or with a title which is void.

@

- notorious possession.

@ open possession

Possession of real property is said to be "open" when held without concealment or attempt at secrecy, or without being covered up in the name of a third person, or otherwise attempted to be withdrawn from sight, but in such a manner that any person interested can ascertain who is actually in possession by proper observation and inquiry.

See adverse possession

- notorious possession

- open and notorious

@ peaceable possession

See peaceable

@ pedal possession

In establishing title by adverse possession this means actual possession; that is, living upon or actually occupying the land, or placing improvements directly upon it

@ possession, writ of

See writ of possession

@ quasi possession

Is to a right what possession is to a thing, it is the exercise or enjoyment of the right, not necessarily the continuous exercise, but such an exercise as shows an intention to exercise it at any time when desired.

@ scrambling possession

By this term is meant a struggle for possession on the land itself, not such a contest as is waged in the courts, or possession gained by an act of trespass, such as building a fence.

@

- unity of possession

@ vacant possession

An estate which has been abandoned, vacated, or forsaken by the tenant. The abandonment must be complete in order to make the possession vacant, and, therefore, if the tenant have goods on the premises it will not be so considered

@ possession is nine-tenths of the law

This adage is not to be taken as true to the full extent, so as to mean that the person in possession can only be ousted by one whose title is nine times better than his, but it places in a strong light the legal truth that every claimant must succeed by the strength of his own title, and not by the weakness of his antagonist's

@ possession vaut titre

/pazeshsn vow tiytrfe)/ In English law, as in most systems of jurisprudence, the fact of possession raises a prima facie title or a presumption of the right of property in the thing possessed. In other words, the possession is as good as the title (about)

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