Under property law, could you declare land you owned not part of the counrty whose borders the land lies in?

Question

Trying to explain my Q easy, so here goes:

USA is a country defined by borders (which are internationally agreed upon i'd assume, give or take a mile or so). Say i bought an acre of land within the borders of the USA, and owned that land outright. Is that land now soley owned by the me, or is it always 'borrowed' from the Governers of the country of the USA, whose borders the land lies within? Ie. Can the government claim this land as USA owned always (they're always above personal ownership contracts, so no one can go and claim land within the borders etc), and on the other hand, could i claim it as 'mine', and for an extreme example, say it was 'my country' on it's own, with it's own borders etc (ok, maybe not a counrty, but you hopefully get my point!)

Was just curious at how property law works, considering that all landmass' on earth bar antartica, are considere part of a counrty. So does anyone really, actually own land - or is it all just borrowed from the identity of a country

Just to note: this is obviosuly hypothetical! lol. Seems some people are assuming i'm actually considering trying this! I know you couldn't do it, else it would have been done (with regards to the country thing). Twas just something me and a mate were discussing in the pool one day that i thought was interesting.

So basically: you own the land, but the country will always have governace over it, until you can legitimitley declare it seperate with a different governance and hold the land

Answer 1

Property law is about who owns the land. It is an entirely different aspect of the law from questions about governmental authority. The borders of countries are matters of international law not domestic law.

Property owners own the land but individuals within the borders of a country are subject to the jurisdiction of the laws of the country. In the U.S., land is not "borrowed" from the government. If the U.S. wants your land for some reason, they have to buy it from you at market value. It only goes back to the government for free if an owner dies without any heirs or any will.

Answer 2

You cannot declare your land free of the US or declare your own country, but if you own the land without mortgage then yes the land is yours. This does not exempt you from federal/state/local laws.
Strangely enough there are small areas in the western US where the land is not associated with the adjoining states. Occuring along the border between two or more states or between the US and Canada the land owner, if he can get the legal proof, is exempt from state laws on that piece. They are also in 99% of the cases, owned as part of a larger piece of property. The one example I've seen/visited is between TX and OK where the landholder set up an outpost that sold booze, gas and cigs tax free. The problems were you had to know where it was, it was not marked on the roads and have a good 4x4 to get there.

Answer 3

I don't know. It's not something Jews talk about or are taught on a regular basis. The idea is that someday this will come to pass. It is NOT what Israel is based on at all. Israel is based on being a safe place for Jews, and homeland. It's set in the place we came because that was natural. An orthodox Jew who's studied Torah will know what the Torah says about the original bountries in more detail, along with details of every last thing in there on all sorts of topics. However, I'm sure there's plenty of disagreement amoungst them about exactly what they were because everything gets interpreted. (There are at least five different brands of seals of kosher certification I can think of off the top of my head, because of disagreements on the interpretations.) There is no intention to expand Israel to those borders from the past. If you are religious and believe God promised it to the Jews, then you believe...that someday it will come to pass - NOT that we need nor should do anything to make it happen. Period. It's amazing how much this has been taken out of context over the years to suit the political angles of Israel's protractors. It's also unsettling to know how much it resembles the older anti-semitic ideas that "Jews are overly ambitious and indeed to control and take over everything." Even amoungst religious Jews, this is so NOT a significant part of the religion. Judaism is about a guideline for living day to day life now. Not the furturist goals that fill Christian spirituality, and to some extent Islamic.

Answer 4

In the US, you own the land. The land is inside the country and is, therefore, subject to the laws of the political subdivisions (city, county, state, and country) You may not declare the property to no longer be part of the US (the last time that was tried, it was called the War Between the States or the Civil War). Therefore, you still have to pay property taxes.

Answer 5

Various levels of government actually "own" the land. If you don't think so, try not paying your "rent", or taxes. Then you will find out who has the strongest claim.

You can declare any piece of land or ocean surface an independent country if you want. International recognition means nothing except for diplomatic relations. If you can take it and you are strong enough to hold it, then you are your own country. Good luck.

Answer 6

The land belongs to you, but it is considered PART of the state in which you live. That is why you have to file a deed at your county clerk's office.

Now as someone else said, if you have the might to hold the land, then I guess you can claim it as your own.

You might enjoy reading about a similar situation, The Principality of Sealand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand

Answer 7

The land ultimately belongs to the state that it lies in, not to you.

===edit==

In response to what "Tmess2" said below, if you really think that the land belongs to you because the government is required by the Constitution to pay you when they take it, ask yourself this, what happens if you tell the government, "No thank you; I don't wish to sell"? Do you really think that you own the land?