Option (law)

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Property law
Part of the common law series
Acquisition of property
Gift  · Adverse possession  · Deed
Lost, mislaid, or abandoned
Treasure trove
Alienation  · Bailment  · License
Estates in land
Allodial title  · Fee simple  · Fee tail
Life estate  · Defeasible estate
Future interest  · Concurrent estate
Leasehold estate  · Condominiums
Conveyancing of interests in land
Bona fide purchaser
Torrens title  · Strata title
Estoppel by deed  · Quitclaim deed
Mortgage  · Equitable conversion
Action to quiet title
Limiting control over future use
Restraint on alienation
Rule against perpetuities
Rule in Shelley's Case
Doctrine of worthier title
Nonpossessory interest in land
Easement  · Profit
Covenant running with the land
Equitable servitude
Related topics
Fixtures  · Waste  · Partition
Riparian water rights
Lateral and subjacent support
Assignment  · Nemo dat
Other areas of the common law
Contract law  · Tort law
Wills and trusts
Criminal Law  · Evidence

In law, an option is the right to convey a piece of property. The person granting the option is called the optionor (or more usually, just the grantor) and the person who has the benefit of the option is called the optionee (or more usually, just the beneficiary).

Options characteristically exist in one of two forms:

  • Call options, which give the beneficiary the right to require the grantor to sell or convey the property to them at the agreed price on exercise
  • Put options, which give the beneficiary the right to require the grantor to buy or receive the property at the agreed price on exercise.

Because options amount to dispositions of future property, in common law countries they are normally subject to the rule against perpetuities and must be exercised within the time limits prescribed by law.

In relation to certain types of asset (principally land), in many countries an option must be registered in order to be binding on a third party.

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