Title 21 — Real Property

The ownership of a thing is the right of one or more persons to possess and use it to the exclusion of others. In this Code, the thing of which there may be ownership is called property. SOURCE: CC § 654.

There may be ownership of all inanimate things which are capable of appropriation or of manual delivery; of all domestic animals; of all obligations; of such products of labor or skill as the composition of an author, the goodwill of a business, trademarks and signs, and of right…

Animals wild by nature are the subject of ownership, while living, only when on the land of the person claiming them, or when tamed, or taken and held in possession, or disabled and immediately pursued. SOURCE: CC § 656.

Property is either: (a) Real or immovable; or, (b) Personal or movable. COL 20240430 SOURCE: CC § 657. NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by 1 GCA § 1606, numbers and/or letters were altered to adhere to the Compiler’s alpha-numeric scheme.

Real or immovable property consists of: (a) Land; (b) That which is affixed to land; (c) That which is incidental to or appurtenant to land; (d) That which is immovable by law. SOURCE: CC § 658. NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by 1 GCA § 1606, numbers and/or letters were …

Land is the solid material of the earth, whatever may be the ingredients of which it is composed, whether soil, rock, or other substance. SOURCE: CC § 659.

A thing is deemed to be affixed to land when it is attached to it by roots, as in the case of trees, vines, or shrubs; or imbedded in it, as in the case of buildings; or permanently attached to what is thus permanent, as by means of cement, plaster, nails, bolts, or screws. SOURC…

A thing is deemed to be incidental or appurtenant to land when it is by right used with the land for its benefit, as in the case of a way, or watercourse, or of a passage for light, air, or heat from or across the land of another. SOURCE: CC § 661. ARTICLE 2 OWNERSHIP Subarticle …

All property has an owner whether that owner is the government of Guam, and the property public, or the owner an individual, and the property private. The United States Government may also hold property as a private proprietor. SOURCE: CC § 669.

The government of Guam is the owner of all land below tidewater, and below ordinary high-water mark, bordering on tidewater within Guam; of all land below the water of a navigable lake or stream; of all property lawfully appropriated by it to its own use; of all property dedicate…

Any person, except an alien, may take, hold, and dispose of real property within Guam, and any person, whether an alien or not, may take, hold, and dispose of personal property within Guam. SOURCE: CC § 671.

(a) No alien or person who is not a citizen of the United States, or who has not declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States in the manner provided by law shall acquire title to or own any land in Guam except as hereinafter provided. The prohibition shall not …

The ownership of property is either: (a) Absolute; or, (b) Qualified. SOURCE: CC § 678. NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by 1 GCA § 1606, numbers and/or letters were altered to adhere to the Compiler’s alpha-numeric scheme.

The ownership of property is absolute when a single person has the absolute dominion over it, and may use it or dispose of it according to his pleasure, subject only to general laws. SOURCE: CC § 679.

The ownership of property is qualified: (a) When it is shared with one or more persons; (b) When the time of enjoyment is deferred or limited; or, (c) When the use is restricted. SOURCE: CC § 680. NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by 1 GCA § 1606, numbers and/or letters wer…

The ownership of property by a single person is designated as sole or several ownership. SOURCE: CC § 681. COL 20240430

The ownership of property by several persons is either: (a) Of joint interests; (b) Of partnership interests; (c) Of interests in common; (d) Of community interest of husband and wife. SOURCE: CC § 682. NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by 1 GCA § 1606, numbers and/or lette…

A joint interest is one owned by several persons in equal shares, by a title created by a single will or transfer, when expressly declared in the will or transfer to be a joint tenancy, or by a transfer from a sole owner to himself and others, or from tenants in common to themsel…

A partnership interest is one owned by several persons, in partnership, for partnership purposes. SOURCE: CC § 684.

An interest in common is one owned by several persons, not in joint ownership or partnership. SOURCE: CC § 685.

Every interest created in favor of several persons in their own right is an interest in common, unless acquired by them in partnership, for partnership purposes, or unless declared in its creation to be a joint interest, as provided in § 1215, or unless acquired as community prop…

In respect to time of enjoyment, an interest in property is either: (a) Present or future; and, (b) Perpetual or limited. SOURCE: CC § 688. NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by 1 GCA § 1606, numbers and/or letters were altered to adhere to the Compiler’s alpha-numeric schem…

A present interest entitled the owner to the immediate possession of the property. SOURCE: CC § 689. COL 20240430

A future interest entitled the owner to the possession of the property only at a future period. SOURCE: CC § 690.

A perpetual interest has a duration equal to that of the property. SOURCE: CC § 691.

A limited interest has a duration less than that of the property. SOURCE: CC § 692.

A Future Interest is either: (a) Vested; or, (b) Contingent. SOURCE: CC § 693. NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by 1 GCA § 1606, numbers and/or letters were altered to adhere to the Compiler’s alpha-numeric scheme.

A future interest is vested when there is a person in being who would have a right, defeasible or indefeasible, to the immediate possession of the property, upon the ceasing of the intermediate or precedent interest. SOURCE: CC § 694.

A future interest is contingent, whilst the person in whom, or the event upon which, it is limited to take effect remains uncertain. SOURCE: CC § 695.

Two or more future interests may be created to take effect in the alternative, so that if the first in order fails to vest, the next in succession shall be substituted for it, and take effect accordingly. SOURCE: CC § 696.

A future interest is not void merely because of the improbability of the contingency on which it is limited to take effect. SOURCE: CC § 697.

When a future interest is limited to successors, heirs, issue, or children, posthumous children are entitled to take in the same manner as if living at the death of that parent. SOURCE: CC § 698. COL 20240430

Future interests pass by succession, will, and transfer, in the same manner as present interests. SOURCE: CC § 699.

A mere possibility, such as the expectancy of an heir apparent, is not to be deemed an interest of any kind. SOURCE: CC § 700.

In respect to real or immovable property, the interests mentioned in this Article are denominated estates, and are specially named and classified commencing with Chapter 2 of this Title. SOURCE: CC § 701. NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by § 1606, reference was altered to…

The names and classification of interests in real property have only such application to interests in personal property as is in this Title expressly provided. SOURCE: CC § 702. NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by § 1606, reference was altered to reflect the existing codif…

No future interest to property is recognized by the law, except such as is defined in this Title. SOURCE: CC § 703. SUBARTICLE C CONDITIONS OF OWNERSHIP

The time when the enjoyment of property is to begin or end may be determined by computation, or be made to depend on events. In the latter case, the enjoyment is said to be upon condition. SOURCE: CC § 707.

Conditions are precedent or subsequent. The former fix the beginning, the latter, the ending, of the right. SOURCE: CC § 708. COL 20240430

If a condition precedent requires the performance of an act wrong of itself, the instrument containing it is so far void, and the right cannot exist. If it requires the performance of an act not wrong of itself, but otherwise unlawful, the instrument takes effect and the conditio…

Conditions imposing restraints upon marriage, except upon the marriage of a minor, are void; but this does not affect limitations where the intent was not to forbid marriage, but only to give the use until marriage. SOURCE: CC § 710.

Conditions restraining alienation, when repugnant to the interest created, are void. SOURCE: CC § 711. SUBARTICLE D RESTRAINTS UPON ALIENATION

Except in the single case mentioned in § 3112, the absolute power of alienation cannot be suspended by any limitation or condition whatever, for a longer period than as follows: (a) During the continuance of the lives of persons in being at the creation of the limitation or condi…

Every future interest is void in its creation which, by any possibility, may suspend the absolute power of alienation for a longer period than is prescribed in this Article. Such power of alienation is suspended when there are no persons in being by whom an absolute interest in p…

The sale, gift, or devise to aliens of lands in Guam is prohibited, except as provided in § 1204 of this Title. COL 20240430 SOURCE: CC § 718. NOTE: Pursuant to the authority granted by § 1606, reference was altered to reflect the existing codification structure. SUBARTICLE E ACC…

Dispositions of the income of property to accrue and to be received at any time subsequent to the execution of the instrument creating such disposition, are governed by the rules prescribed in this Chapter in relation to Future Interests. SOURCE: CC § 722.

All directions for the accumulation of the income of property, except such as are allowed by this Chapter, are void. SOURCE: CC § 723.

An accumulation of the income of property may be directed by any will, trust, or transfer in writing sufficient to pass the property or create the trust out of which the fund is to arise, for the benefit of one or more persons, objects, or purposes, to commence within the time in…

If the direction for an accumulation of the income of property is for a longer term than is limited in the last section, the direction only, whether separable or not from the other provisions of the instrument, is void as respects the time beyond the limit prescribed in said last…

When one or more persons for whose benefit an accumulation of income has been directed is or are destitute of other sufficient means of support or education, the proper court, upon application, may direct a suitable sum to be thereto out of the fund directed to be accumulated for…