Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Property ownership

The subject of property is dealt with at a very fundamental level in the early chapters of the California Civil Code, starting with section 654, which defines property: "The ownership of a thing is the right of one or more persons to pssess and use it to the exclusion of others. In this Code, the thing of which there may be ownership is called property." Section 655 lists things that can be owned; 656 talks about ownership of wild animals; 657 classifies property into "real or immovable" and "personal or movable;" 658 to 662 are about real property; and 663 says "every kind of property that is not real is personal."

Next, more background: Civil Code section 669 says "All property has an owner, whether that owner is the State, and the property public, or the owner an individual, and the property private. The State may also hold property as a private proprietor." Then, after a bunch of sections dealing with real property, skip ahead to 1000: "Property is acquired by: 1. Occupancy; 2. Accession; 3. Transfer; 4. Will; or 5. Succession.

So, I think the determination of ownership of personal property begins with determining whether someone claiming ownership acquired ownership in the first place, and if so, whether ownership was threafter acquired by someone else, in one of the section 1000 methods. Further, I think #1 (occupancy) only applies to real property.

There are special rules regarding interests in motor vehicles, boats, airplanes, etc. where the various Codes call for registration of title.

Possession is sometimes equated with ownership, or thought to give rise to a presumption of ownership, but even where a presumption arises, it is rebuttable by evidence showing possession is not rightful.

This may not answer your question. It is a very general response to a very general inquiry. Proving ownership of personal property in court is often far from simple, and may delve into issues such as whether documents of title were forged, which of similar-looking items belongs to X and which to Y, and on and on. Please feel free to give me details of your situation by contacting me directly.