CYA Disclaimer: The following is intended for reference purposes only and not as legal advice.
What is a fixture, anyway? Odds are you own one. The formal definition is "a tangible object that was once personal property but has become so connected with real property that it has become a part of it." There, does that clear things up? I didn't think so. Let me try again: "fixtures" means stuff like a commode (once it's been bolted to the floor of your bathroom, and not a moment before). A desk is not a fixture (no matter how heavy it is) simply because it is physically separate from your house.
So who cares? It matters in several circumstances. If your father wills his house to your sister and his personal property to you, it's gonna matter whether or not that solid gold toilet is classified as a fixture or not, because fixtures are not considered personal property. So get out your bolt cutters. It can also matter if you buy a house, because purchase of a house does not automatically entitle you to the personal property inside of it, and you might like to have the TV set, the refrigerator, etc.
Here are the factors that courts use to determine what is or is not a fixture. Remember here that the court will balance these factors, so there's not necessarily gonna be a certain answer in advance (otherwise there would be no excuse for your lawyer to bill all those hours honing his arguments!).
(1) How firmly and securely the item is attached to the real estate.
(2) How appropriately the item fits as a fixture (you can't grab ownership of the refrigerator and the TV set by simply bolting them to the floor).
(3) How much it will harm the real estate to remove the item (will you have to rip out a wall to remove it?).
(4) What was the intent of the person who attached it to the property? If an owner bolts a toilet onto the bathroom floor, it might be more convincing evidence that he intended it to become a permanent part of the real estate than if a renter did so.
Real Estate Law in Plain English explains real estate law without the legalese.
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