Аллод

Аллод (нем. Allod, франкское alodis, от древневерхненем. al — полный, весь и od — владение), свободно отчуждаемая индивидуально-семейная земельная собственность в раннефеодальной Западной Европе, в качестве пережитка существовавшая и при развитом феодализме. Возникновению такого полного (или позднего) А., пришедшего у германских племён на смену общинным, коллективным формам собственности, предшествовали переходные формы: вначале движимое и недвижимое имущество сохранялось в нераздельной собственности сравнительно узкого круга сородичей — большой семьи (т. н. ранний А.), а затем право наследования пахотными земельными наделами общинников было закреплено уже только за сыновьями умершего (впервые это было юридически зафиксировано в Салической правде). На территории бывшей Западной Римской империи образование А. было ускорено влиянием уцелевшей здесь полной (римского типа) собственности на землю. Поздний А. оформляется к началу 6 в. у вестготов, к концу 6 в. у франков, в 7—8 вв. у большинства других германских племён (у саксов и фризов только в начале 9 в.). В условиях зарождения феодальных отношений возникновение А., превращение земли в объект дарений, купли-продажи и т. д. привело к резкому углублению имущественного расслоения в среде общинников, к постепенной утрате большинством из них своих наделов, с одной стороны, к образованию и росту крупного феодального землевладения, с другой. С развитием феодальных отношений большая часть мелких аллодистов была втянута в феодальную зависимость, а их аллодиальные земли превратились в зависимые крестьянские держания. А. крупных и средних землевладельцев постепенно уступали место условной феодальной собственности — бенефицию, затем феоду. Однако аллодиальная собственность в некоторой степени сохранялась в Англии, Италии, Испании, Германии (главным образом в Саксонии) и особенно в Южной Франции и Скандинавии.

Аллодиальной собственности феодалов в известной степени соответствовали: в Русском государстве вотчина, в странах Ближнего и Среднего Востока — мульк, в Китае — чжуантянь, в Японии — сёэн.

Лит.: Энгельс Ф., Франкский период, Маркс К. и Энгельс Ф., Соч., 2 изд., т. 19; Неусыхин А. И., Возникновение зависимого крестьянства как класса раннефеодального общества в Западной Европе VI—VIII вв., М., 1956; его же, К вопросу об эволюции форм семьи и земельного аллода у аллеманнов в VI—IX вв., в сб.: Средние века, в. 8, М., 1956; Гуревич А. Я., Проблема земельной собственности в дофеодальных и раннефеодальных обществах Западной Европы, «Вопросы истории», 1968, № 4 (в статье подвергается сомнению взгляд на аллод как на свободно отчуждаемую собственность).

АЛЛОД — при феодализме полная, подлежащая неограниченному распоряжению владельца земель­ная собственность, свободная от феодальных повин­ностей. Вначале — наследственное владение у гер­манских племён, расселившихся в провинциях Запад­ной Римской империи после её падения. В 5—7 вв. А. обозначал как движимое, так и недвижимое владение, свобода отчуждения к-рого была ограни­чена родовым обычаем. Эти ограничения с течением времени утратили свою силу, и аллодом стали назы­вать полную земельную собственность в проти­воположность другим видам феодальной собствен­ности, связанной со службой и повинностями. В эпоху становления фео­дальных отношений возникновение частной собствен­ности на землю способствовало развитию имущест­венного неравенства в среде землевладельцев и обра­зованию крупной земельной собственности. «С того момента, как возник аллод, свободно отчуждаемая земельная собственность, земельная собственность как товар, возникновение крупного землевладения стало лишь вопросом времени» (Э н г е л ь с, см. Маркс и Энгельс, Соч., т. 16, ч. 1, стр. 392). В период развитого феодализма А. был вытеснен условным земельным держанием и сохранился лишь в виде пережитка в отдельных районах (в Юж. Франции, в нек-рых местах Германии).

Лит.: Энгельс Ф.. Франкский период, в кн.: Маркс К. в Энгельс Ф., Соч., т. 16, ч. 1, [М.]. 1937.

Аллод (нем. Allod, фр. alodis от al — полный и od — владение) — согласно средневековым законам, выделенное в полную власть феодальное земельное владение.

Первоначально А. был неразделимой и неотчуждаемой собственностью большой семьи, постепенно, с увеличением имущественного расслоения и выделением малой семьи из большой, аллод становится владением сначала малой семьи, а затем (к концу VI — началу VII века), частным. Господин А. имеет безграничную власть в своих землях, но не имеет права покидать свои владения без ведома сеньора. С развитием феодальных отношений большая часть мелких А. превратилась в зависимые крестьянские держания, А. крупных и средних землевладельцев — в бенефиции и феоды.

Важнейшими источниками являются: «Салическая правда», «Эдикт Хильперика короля». В «Салической правде» статьи об аллоде касаются в основном его наследования.

Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord, but it should not be confused with anarchy as the owner of allodial land is not independent of his sovereign. In common legal use, allodial title is used to distinguish absolute ownership of land by individuals from feudal ownership, where property ownership is dependent on relationship to a lord or the sovereign.

True allodial title is rare, with most property ownership in the common law world—primarily, the United Kingdom, the United States,Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland—described more properly as being in fee simple. In particular, land is said to be "held of the Crown" in England and Wales and the Commonwealth realms. In England, there is no allodial land, all land being held of the Crown; in the United States, all land is subject to eminent domain by the federal government, and subject to the imposition of taxes by state and/or local governments, and there is thus no true allodial land. Some states within the US (notably Nevada, and Texas) have provisions for considering land allodial under state law, but such land remains rare. The constitution of the state of Minnesota states, "All lands within the state are allodial and feudal tenures of every description with all their incidents are prohibited." Some Commonwealth realms (particularly Australia) recognize native title, a form of allodial title that does not originate from a Crown grant. Some land in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, known as Udal land, is held in a manner akin to allodial land in that these titles are not subject to the ultimate ownership of the Crown.

In France, while allodial title existed before the French Revolution, it was rare and limited to ecclesiastical properties and property that had fallen out of feudal ownership. After the French Revolution allodial title became the norm in France and other civil law countries that were under Napoleonic legal influences. Interestingly Quebec adopted a form of allodial title when it abolished feudalism in the mid-nineteenth century making the forms of ownership inUpper and Lower Canada remarkably similar in substance.

Property owned under allodial title is referred to as allodial land, allodium, or an allod. In the Domesday Book it is called alod. 

Allodial lands are the absolute property of their owner and not subject to any service or acknowledgment to a superior. An allodial title is the opposite of a feudal land tenure. However, historian J.C. Holt states that "In Normandy the word alodium, whatever its sense in other parts of the Continent, meant not land held free of seigneurial services, but land held by hereditary right," and that "alodium and feodum should be given the same meaning in England." 

The derivation of the word is still doubtful, though it is probably compounded of the Germanic all, whole or entire, and odh, property. Allodial tenure seems to have been common throughout northern Europe, but is now unknown in common law jurisdictions apart from the United States. Allodial titles are known asudal tenure in Orkney and Shetland, the only parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland where they exist.

As late as the Tudor period, in order to avoid estate taxes, a legal loophole was exploited where land was willed to a trustee for the use of the beneficiary. However, trustees often abused this privilege, and heirs found that the courts of common law would refuse to recognize the "use" clause, and would instead grant title in law to the trustee. However, the courts of equity, which were developed by the sovereign to deal with obvious injustices in the common law courts, ruled that the heirs were entitled to the use of the property, and gave them title in equity. As rulings of equity courts ranked above those of common law courts, this gave heirs the use of the land, but not title to it in the common law.

However, this distinction between common law and equity title helped develop forms of security based on the distinction, now known as the mortgage. Enjoyment of the property during the period where the mortgage was in good standing could be assured through the equity courts, while the right to foreclose on the property to merge the common law and equity title were guaranteed in the common law courts.

Until the 18th century, almost all common law property ownership depended on proving a link of possession from a royal grant of title to the property owner. Although the feudal system was rapidly disappearing from England in the 18th century, to be replaced with a system of taxation, in theory the feudal chain of title still exists, although it is a formality.

However, proving ownership in the absence of the documents was an impossibility, and forgeries of crown grants were common and difficult to detect. Moreover, it was nearly impossible to determine if land was subject to common law encumbrances (i.e. mortgages). This led to the establishment in the 18th century of land registry systems, where a central office in each county was responsible for the filing of land deeds, mortgages, liens and other evidence of ownership, transfer or encumbrance. Under land registry, deeds and charges were not recognized unless they were filed, and persons who filed were given priority over previous transactions that had not been filed. Moreover, under statutes of limitation, only documents that had been filed in the past 40 years had to be consulted to determine the chain of ownership.

Before 1774, all land in the American colonies could also be traced to royal grants, either a single enormous grant creating each proprietary colony (e.g. Pennsylvania and Maryland), or smaller direct grants within crown colonies (e.g. Virginia). The original grantee (recipient of the land) then sold or granted parcels of land within his grant to private citizens and other legal entities. However, when the colonies won the Revolutionary War, they did not want to retain a feudal system of land ownership. The Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended formal hostilities and recognized American independence, also had the effect of ending any residual rights held by the original grantees or the Crown. Essentially, this merely recognized that no person holding land in the new United States owed any allegiance or duty to the Crown or any English noble. There is no specific reference to allodial title in the text of the treaty. Some state created a form of allodial title while others retained the tenurial system with the state as the new ultimate landholder.

Apart from land that was formally owned at the time of the Revolutionary War, most American landholders can trace their title back to grants by the federal or state governments of land obtained by purchase (Louisiana Purchase, Florida, Alaska), treaty (the Ohio Valley, New Mexico, Arizona, and California), or annexation (Texas, Hawaii). However, in reality, previous grants prior to those territories becoming U.S. possessions were recognized; ownership under French and Spanish crown grants in the Louisiana Purchase and Guadalupe-Hidalgo/Gadsden territories remained valid. In fact, in Dartmouth College v. Woodward, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a New Hampshire law that attempted to revoke the land grant to Dartmouth College from King George III was unconstitutional.

Many state constitutions (Arkansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York) refer to allodial title, but only to clearly distinguish it from feudal title. The conditions under which the government can compel the sale of privately owned real property for public necessity are established by eminent domain laws of either the federal or state governments, respectively. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires just compensation for eminent domain compelled sale.In addition, the government powers of police power and escheat have been retained in the American legal system.

Some groups say references to allodial title in state constitutions and (allegedly) the Treaty of Paris give property owners "inalienable" title to their property. These groups include:

• Tax protestors: Some tax protesters deny the legal power of municipal and state governments to tax property on the basis that allodial title cannot be alienated by failure to pay those taxes.

• Mortgagors: Persons who have overextended themselves and face foreclosure often  try to create an allodial title.

• Anti-zoning groups: Persons who own agricultural land that faces re-zoning due to encroaching urbanization often  claim that zoning laws that control agricultural use of property are illegal as they constitute an encumbrance on allodial title. They claim that only the law of nuisance applies to persons holding allodial title. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of zoning laws on a very broad basis, even though such laws all post-date the 1787 Constitution.

Schemes to obtain "allodial title" usually advise property owners to file a deed of allodial title with the local registry office, or to publish a notice of "allodial" title in a local newspaper. However, neither these or any other method is recognised by U.S. courts, and attempts to improperly assert an allodial title in U.S. courts may be classified as a "frivolous claim". 

Two states, Nevada and Texas, created limited allodial title provisions in order to protect property owners from the burden of highly increased property taxes which often occur when unincorporated landbecomes part of a town or city.

Nevada allowed persons who owned and lived in single family residences to obtain allodial title if the property was not mortgaged and had no tax liens. Allodial titles were subject to exemptions from seizure in debt or bankruptcy under homestead laws; however, property could be seized if used in a criminal enterprise. The Nevada Legislature in 2005 prohibited applications by property owners for allodial title after June 13, 2005. Given this, and that some research questions that Texas actually issues allodial titles,  acquiring an allodial title in either of these states is no longer an option.

Other institutional property ownership can also be called allodial, in that property granted for certain uses is held absolutely and cannot be alienated in most circumstances. For example, universitiesand colleges that hold property for educational purposes can be described as having allodial title. In most states, property held by churches for the purpose of worship also has status similar to allodial title. American Indian reservations also share some similarity with allodial title. However, in all these cases, it is also clear that if the title ceases to be used for the purposes for which it was granted, it reverts to the state or the federal government. 

In 1997, the Nevada Legislature created a new section of statutes within the property tax statutory scheme. Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 361.900 to 361.920.  These statutes, which are entitled "Allodial Title," became effective on July 1, 1998.

Those who can apply for allodial title are limited: A person who owns and occupies a single-family dwelling, its appurtenances and the land on which it is located, free and clear of all encumbrances, except any unpaid assessment for a public improvement, may apply to the county assessor to establish allodial title to the dwellings, appurtenances and the land on which it is located. One or more persons who own such a home in any form of joint ownership may apply for the allodial title, jointly if the dwelling is occupied by each person included in the application.

After the county assessor receives the application, he transfers it to the state treasurer. 

The state treasurer then determines the amount which is required to be paid by the property owner to establish allodial title. This is done by using "a tax rate of $5 for each $100 of assessed valuation on the date of the application." The treasurer must calculate, separately, the amount that must be paid in a lump sum, and for the payment in installments over a period of not more than 10 years. These "amounts must be calculated to the best ability of the state treasurer so that the money paid plus the interest or other income earned on that money will be adequate to pay all future tax liability of the property for a period equal to the life expectancy of the youngest titleholder of the property." 

If the property owner pays the lump sum amount calculated by the state treasurer, and submits proof that the home is a single-family dwelling occupied by the homeowner, and that the property is free and clear of all encumbrances except any unpaid assessment for a public improvement, "the state treasurer shall issue a certificate of allodial title".  If the property owner enters into an agreement with the state to make installment payments (in lieu of a lump sum payment), the issue of a certificate of allodial title occurs upon the receipt by the treasurer of the last payment. 

Once a property owner receives a certificate of allodial title, he is relieved from the payment of all further property taxes, "unless the allodial title is relinquished by the homeowner or his heirs." Instead, the state treasurer is responsible for the payment of the taxes due. 

Once allodial title is established, it "is valid for as long as the homeowner continues to own the residence unless he chooses to relinquish the allodial title[.]" NRS 361.910 (1). Upon the death of an allodial title holder, the heir or heirs can reestablish allodial title by using the same procedure that the original property owner used. 

The holder of an allodial title can voluntarily relinquish it at any time. NR8 361.915 (1). The title shall be relinquished if the property is sold, leased or transferred by the allodial title holder; the allodial title holder no longer occupies the dwelling for 150 days; or the home is converted to anything other than a single-family dwelling occupied by the owner. Id. If allodial title is relinquished, either voluntarily or otherwise, the property owner receives a refund of the unused portion of the payments made to originally establish the allodial title. NRS 361.915 (3)-(4). Once the allodial title is relinquished, the property owner is once again responsible for all future property taxes. 

The importance and benefit of establishing allodial title extends beyond the non-payment of property taxes. It also has significance in the area of homestead law. Pursuant to NRS 115.010, the available homestead exemption in Nevada is $550,000.  However, if allodial title has been established and not relinquished, the homestead exemption "extends to all equity in the dwelling, its appurtenances and the land on which it is located."  Furthermore, although the regular homestead exemption provides no protection against legal process to enforce the payment of obligations contracted for the purchase of the property, or for improvements made thereon (including any mechanic's lien lawfully obtained), or for legal taxes, or for any mortgage or deed of trust executed upon the property,  the holder of an allodial title is fully exempt from all of these under the homestead laws. The only area within the homestead laws wherein allodial title fails to provide an extra benefit is in the realm of civil and criminal forfeiture of property.  Similar to all property in Nevada, property held by allodial title is subject to forfeiture for criminal conduct.

Despite this one area, allodial title provides significant benefits to those who qualify for it. These benefits are tremendous in the areas of property tax and homestead. If one can pursue allodial title, it may well be worth the cost to do so.

Although allodial title cannot be lost in most circumstances, that also means that it cannot be transferred or encumbered without losing its allodial status. As such, when a property owner dies and leaves ownership to more than one heir, the allodial status of the property is lost. Allodial title cannot be mortgaged. Moreover, as liens cannot attach to allodial title, it is difficult to finance improvements to a property held in allodial title as, once incorporated, the improvements become part of the allodial title and become exempt from lien or seizure of the property to pay a contractor's bill.

Allodial title cannot, in theory, be legally taken away against the will of the owner. However, an allodial owner can contractually give up allodial ownership and that allodial ownership can be restored or sold or passed on to a single heir. Allodial title cannot be taken away by fraud, only by legitimate contract.