Personal property

Personal property is a sort of property. In the common law systems personal property may also be described has chattels. It is distinguished from real property, or real estate. In civil law systems personal property is can be called as movable property or movables, any property that can be moved from one location to another. This term is in distinction with immovable property or immovable, such as land and buildings.

The distinction between these kinds of property is important for a variety of reasons. Generally one's rights on movables are more attenuated than one's rights on immovable. The statutes of restrictions or prescriptive periods are usually shorter when trading with personal or movable property. Real property rights are usually enforceable for a longer period and in most jurisdictions real estate and immovable are registered in government sanctioned land registers. In some jurisdictions, rights can be registered against personal or movable property.