Nolo's Plain-English Law Dictionary

Legal Dictionary Home

Need Professional Help? Talk to a Lawyer
Enter Your Zip Code to Connect with a Lawyer Serving Your Area
searchbox small
Sweat Equity
An ownership interest in property that results from the hard labor a person puts into improving it. For example, Jenny gave her brother James a share of her new business in exchange for the hundreds of hours he worked to help her start it up.


Need Legal Help?

Get Informed Check out our thousands of free articles on everyday legal topics--they're accurate, up to date, and written in plain English.
Do It Yourself With Nolo's easy-to-use books, legal forms, online services, and software, you can handle many routine legal tasks yourself.
Talk to a Lawyer Just enter your zip code to connect with a lawyer serving your area.
LA-WS5:0.9.22.120522.13848+