California Real Estate Practice Exam

An owner acquires title to additional land on his river-front property when the river shifts its course. This is acquiring by:

1. acclamation.

2. accession.

3. abstraction.

4. alienation.

The correct answer is: acclamation.

The correct answer to the question is accession. In real estate, accession refers to the legal principle whereby a landowner acquires additional land due to natural forces, such as the shifting of a river’s course. When a river changes its path, the land that emerges as a result becomes the property of the adjacent landowner through the process of accession. This principle acknowledges that increases in land (whether through natural deposits or changes in boundaries) are considered part of the property. The other options do not accurately describe this scenario. Acclamation typically refers to a public proclamation or the expression of approval but is not related to property acquisition. Abstraction is not a recognized term in real estate regarding land acquisition; it might be confused with abstracting title, which involves creating a summary of the property’s history. Alienation involves the transfer of title or interest in property from one person to another, which does not apply here since the land acquisition is based on natural changes rather than a transfer of ownership.