Also known as: estate for a term of years · term of years estate · tenancy for years · estate for years
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A leasehold estate whose duration is fixed in advance in units of a year or multiples or fractions of a year. The estate begins and ends on dates ascertainable from the creating instrument and requires no further action by either party to terminate.
Lakeside Coaches signed a written agreement granting exclusive use of a ticket counter from June 1 2024 through May 31 2027 in exchange for monthly rent. When the city later ordered the company to vacate and labeled the document a revocable permit, Lakeside sued for possession. The court held that the definite calendar dates created an estate for years that could not be revoked at will.
Nimbus Cloud signed a written agreement with Orion Properties for exclusive use of an entire data center floor from March 15 of this year until March 14 three years later at monthly rent. When a dispute arose over the nature of the interest, Nimbus claimed the arrangement was merely month-to-month. The fixed start and end dates established an estate for years that ended automatically on the stated termination date.
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Lake Guest granted Gold Travel the exclusive right to operate a lobby bar for five summer seasons defined as Memorial Day to Labor Day. After two seasons the hotel sought to terminate, arguing the fluctuating holiday dates made the term uncertain. The explicit cap of five precisely bounded seasonal periods created an estate for years measured in divisions of a year.
Brook Connect executed a signed twenty-year ground lease with Bright Satellite for the entire rooftop at five thousand dollars monthly rent. The document contained a rent-renegotiation clause every five years and an early-termination provision upon regulatory changes. The base twenty-year term fixed in yearly units created an estate for years despite the conditional provisions.
Bayview Properties leased Suite 101 to Harbor Realty from January 1 2026 through December 31 2029 subject to the landlord's right to terminate if the building was sold. Harbor claimed a fixed-term leasehold. The definite calendar dates established an estate for years even though the term was subject to a condition subsequent.
Plains Automotive signed a one-page document stating it would occupy a service bay for two years at monthly rent. After fourteen months Fair Automotive served a thirty-day termination notice claiming a periodic tenancy. The explicit two-year reference fixed the duration in a multiple of a year and created an estate for years.
An estate for years ends automatically on a date fixed at the outset. A periodic tenancy continues indefinitely from period to period until proper notice is given. The key is whether the creating instrument states a definite beginning and ending measured in yearly units.
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No. The payment interval for rent does not control classification when the instrument expressly fixes a term measured in years. Courts look to the stated duration rather than the rent schedule.
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Yes. Summer seasons defined as Memorial Day to Labor Day qualify as divisions of a year. An express limit of five such seasons supplies the required certainty even if exact calendar dates shift slightly each year.
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No. The reservation creates a defeasible estate for years rather than converting it into a tenancy at will. The fixed calendar term remains the defining feature.
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No. The Restatement definition permits multiples or divisions of a year. Terms such as nine months, three and one-half years, or five summer seasons all qualify when the beginning and ending are ascertainable.
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…the lease as governed by property, as opposed to contract, precepts.[^maj-3] The court there observed that the “tenant had an estate for years, but it was an estate qualified by this right of the landlord to prevent its transfer,” 94 N.J.L. at 313, and that “the tenant has an estate with which the landlord may not interfere.”…