Chattels are considered in law among the minor things.

Explanation

The law regards chattels (movable personal property) as lesser things compared to land — disputes over chattels receive less elaborate procedure than disputes over freehold estates.

Where this applies

• A dispute over a stolen painting worth $500 is resolved in small claims court with a simplified hearing, while a dispute over a five-acre parcel of land requires a full trial with title searches and surveys — the law treats movable property as a lesser matter deserving simpler process.
• A farmer's claim that his neighbor took a wheelbarrow is handled with a brief hearing before a magistrate, but his claim that the neighbor encroached on his field requires a formal action in the court of record — chattels receive less elaborate procedure than land.
• When a tenant leaves behind furniture after a lease ends, the landlord can dispose of it under straightforward abandonment rules, but if there were a dispute over the land itself, the procedures would be far more rigorous — the law ranks chattels below real property.