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CHAPTER 7REAL ESTATE LAWGENERAL CONCEPTSCanadian real estate law hasroots that stretch back as faras the eleventh centuryEnglish feudal system. As aresult, the principles andconcepts of land rights whichapply in Canada areconsistent with those thatexist in many other countries,including the United Statesand England.Fundamental to the property law system isthe concept that land can be subject todifferent interests held by different people,some simultaneously.The highest interest in land that can be heldis a freehold estate. There are severalcategories of freehold estate, the uppermostbeing the fee simple, which looselytranslated means an outright ownership ofpotentially infinite duration. Lesser interestsare a life interest, which as the namesuggests, is an interest which expires uponthe death of the person holding it, and aremainder interest, which is an interest inland which will become a fee simple interestafter the death of the life interest holder. Noperson can sell a greater interest in landthen that which he holds. If, therefore, onewants to buy a fee simple interest in landsfrom someone who holds only a life interest,one must be sure to include in thetransaction those holding the remainderinterest. Furthermore, if one buys the lifeinterest from the life interest holder, thepurchaser has an interest only for the life ofthe person to whom the life interest wasoriginally granted.Real Estate Law 64