Also known as: owns · owned · owning · ownership · title
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
To hold legal title to property or to rightfully possess it as one's own.
Odin Obeng contracts to sell a parcel to Oswald Orozco. At closing Odin cannot deliver title free of an unreleased lien recorded against the property. Oswald refuses to close because he will not accept title that fails the marketability standard.
Otis Olsen files a complaint containing scandalous allegations against Orion Technologies. The court, acting on its own initiative under the rule, strikes the offending paragraphs from the pleading without waiting for a motion.
Owen Ortega offers a statement by his deceased aunt concerning her own birth and ancestry. The court admits the statement under the hearsay exception even though the aunt lacked personal knowledge of the facts recited.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Orson Ochoa, a sitting judge, appears on the program of a local bar association's annual dinner. Because the event raises funds for legal aid, the judge may participate only if the program concerns the law or administration of justice.
Orion Orlov represents an elderly client whose capacity has declined. Believing the client cannot protect his own interest and faces financial harm, the lawyer consults adult protective services and seeks appointment of a conservator.
Oceanview Properties terminates a tenant's lease. The tenant continues in possession without claiming superior title. The resulting estate at sufferance allows the landlord to treat the occupant as a trespasser subject to eviction.
Yes. The verb own denotes holding legal title to property or rightfully possessing it as one's own.
Supporting sources
A court may strike redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter from a pleading on its own initiative.
A declarant's statement concerning the declarant's own birth, adoption, legitimacy, ancestry, marriage, divorce, or similar facts of personal or family history is admissible even without personal knowledge.
A judge may permit the judicial title to be used in connection with an event of a civic or charitable organization only if the event concerns the law, the legal system, or the administration of justice.
When a client has diminished capacity and faces substantial harm, the lawyer may consult appropriate individuals or entities and, in suitable cases, seek appointment of a guardian or conservator.
An estate at sufferance arises when a person who had a possessory interest wrongfully continues in possession after termination without asserting a claim to superior title.
…to particular questions but not to the general competency to be sworn as witnesses. Mr. Lee illustrated that if one claimed title to land under a patent from the United States and the Secretary refused a copy, a mandamus could compel production; to obtain a mandamus one must show the patent is recorded and clerks can…