Estates & Future Interests

Question 1

Definition of “escheat”

Answer 1

The reversion of property to the state when there is no one to inherit it

Question 2

When a landowner dies without will or heirs …

Answer 2

… The land escheats to the state

Question 3

If property escheats to the state, the state need not pay inheritance taxes.

Answer 3

The rule in In re O’Connor’s Estate

Question 4

Purchasers are justified in rejecting as unmarketable a deed that is preceded in the chain of title by another deed that lacks the specific language necessary to create a fee simple.

Answer 4

The rule in Cole v. Steinlauf

Question 5

Definition of “fee simple absolute”

Answer 5

The greatest estate in land someone can have, that can potentially last forever; it passes to the heirs of the owner if they die without a will.

Question 6

Definition of “life estate”

Answer 6

An estate in land that lasts for the duration of a specific person’s life; the holder of the ____ has a duty to maintain the property in good condition for the remainderman to whom the property will pass at the end of the ____.

Question 7

Definition of “fee simple determinable”

Answer 7

A fee simple estate in land that in the event of a certain, specified occurrence or action automatically ends and reverts to the grantor.

Question 8

“Fee simple determinable” can also be called …

Answer 8

… “fee simple subject to common law limitation” and “fee simple subject to special limitation”

Question 9

Definition of “fee simple subject to a condition subsequent”

Answer 9

A fee estate under which the grantor may take affirmative action to have the land forfeited back to him if a certain condition occurs

Question 10

Most jurisdictions have abolished the necessity for the use of “and heirs” …

Answer 10

… In the creation of a fee simple absolute

Question 11

1) a will provision that limits a devisee upon the marriage of the devisee is valid when the purpose is to provide support for the devisee
2) [by statute] a devise will be considered a fee simple absent express language indicating a life estate or creating a further devise following the devisee’s death.

Answer 11

The rules in Lewis v. Searles

Question 12

“Fee simple determinable” vs. “fee simple subject to a condition subsequent”

Answer 12

In the former—upon the happening of the specified event, the estate automatically (“ipso facto”) reverts to the grantor or their heirs
In the latter—a grantor must take some affirmative action to divest the grantee of their estate

Question 13

The interest remaining in a grantor in a “fee simple absolute” is …

Answer 13

… called a possibility of reverter

Question 14

The interest remaining in a grantor of a “fee simple subject to condition subsequent” is …

Answer 14

… called a power of termination

Question 15

Words like “so long as,” “until” or “during,” followed by words of reverter …

Answer 15

… are appropriate to create a fee simple determinable

Question 16

Words like “upon the condition that” or “provided that” …

Answer 16

… are appropriate to create a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent.

Question 17

Definition of “fee simple defeasible”

Answer 17

An umbrella term encompassing: a) fee simple determinable, b) fee simple subject to condition subsequent, and c) fee simple subject to executory limitation.
Also called: “base fee” or “qualified fee”

Question 18

Definition of “fee tail”

Answer 18

Title to land that can pass only to certain natural descendants of the grantor; if the grantee dies without having had natural issue, the title will pass to the heirs of another.

Question 19

Originally a medieval estate, the fee tail …

Answer 19

… is now illegal in a large majority of states.

Question 20

Definition of “laches”

Answer 20

Doctrine under which a party may lose a right if they unreasonably delay asserting it

Question 21

The term “waste” implies neglect or misconduct resulting in material damages to or loss of property, but …

Answer 21

… does not include ordinary depreciation of property due to age and normal use.

Question 22

The owner of a reversion or remainder in fee has these remedies available against a life tenant (or tenant for years) who commits waste:

Answer 22

1) compensatory damages for the injuries to the property
2) injunctive relief in equity
3) obtain a receivership

Question 23

A remainderman does not have to wait until the life tenant dies …

Answer 23

… in order to bring an appropriate action for waste

Question 24

An action for waste may be lost by …

Answer 24

… may be lost by laches

Question 25

Absent prejudice to the tenant or their estate, the passage of time will not bar a remainderman’s suit for damages due to tenant’s waste.

Answer 25

The rule in Moore v. Phillips

Question 26

A deed provision stating that a purchaser’s failure to perform certain requirements would “automatically cause title … to revert” was not sufficient to create a fee simple determinable where other deed provisions and surrounding circumstances indicated that the parties intended to create a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent.

Answer 26

The rule in Oldfield v. Stoeco Homes, Inc.

Question 27

A remainder in real property is “vested” when there is a person capable of being ascertained and ready to take, who has a present right of future enjoyment, which is not dependent upon any uncertain event or contingency—while in the case of a “contingent” remainder, the right itself is uncertain.

Answer 27

The rule in Kost v. Foster

Question 28

The difference between “to A for life, then to A’s children who survive A” and “to A for life, then to A’s children, but if a child fails to survive A, that child’s interest shall be divided equally among the surviving children, and if no child survives A, the estate shall revert to O”

Answer 28

The first wording creates a contingent remainder, and the second wording creates a vested remainder.

Question 29

Definition of “contingent remainder”

Answer 29

A future interest created in a third person who is unborn or unascertained, or is made subject to a condition precedent.

Question 30

Definition of “vested remainder”

Answer 30

A future interest created in a third person who is born and ascertained, and that is not subject to a condition subsequent.

Question 31

Explanation of “Doctrine of destructibility of contingent remainders”

Answer 31

If a prior estate terminates before the occurrence of the contingency, the contingent remainder is destroyed for lack of a supporting freehold estate, e.g., where the supporting life estate merges with the reversionary interest

Question 32

Definition of “seisin of land”

Answer 32

Ownership; possession of a freehold estate in land.

Question 33

Definition of “reversionary interest”

Answer 33

A future estate retained by the grantor because an estate of a lesser quantity has been conveyed, such as estates for years or life estates.

Question 34

Definition of “quiet title”

Answer 34

Court action that seeks to show who has title to land, by compelling the adverse party to prove they have a right to the property or be estopped from asserting such right in the future.

Question 35

Merger of life estate with reversionary interest does not…

Answer 35

…does not destroy contingent remainder

Question 36

Definition of a “remainder”

Answer 36

a non-reversionary future estate, which is created in favor of someone other than the grantor.

Question 37

Explanation of the “Doctrine of destructibility of contingent remainders”

Answer 37

If a prior estate terminates before the occurrence of the contingency, the contingent remainder is destroyed for lack of a supporting freehold estate, e.g., where the supporting life estate merges with the reversionary interest.

Question 38

The doctrine of destructibility of contingent remainders is not still viable in modern society, so as to destroy a contingent remainder when a life estate merges with the reversionary interest.

Answer 38

The rule in Abo Petroleum Corp. v. Amstutz

Question 39

The court must apply the Rule in Shelley’s Case even if it is contrary to the testators intent.

Answer 39

The rule in Sybert v. Sybert

Question 40

A conveyance which attempts to give a person a life estate, with a remainder to that person’s heirs, will instead give both the life estate and the remainder to that person. Absent an intervening vested future interest, the life estate and the remainder will merge and the conveyance gives that person the land in fee simple absolute (full ownership without restriction).

Answer 40

stating the Rule in Shelley’s Case

Question 41

A limitation contained in a deed conveying real property, which provides that the land shall revert back to the grantor, or to his lawful heirs, if the life tenant should die without heirs, is a remainder subject to the rule against a remainder to the grantor’s heirs (i.e., the Doctrine of Worthier Title) thereby causing the grantor to retain a reversion in the land.

Answer 41

the rule in Braswell v. Braswell

Question 42

This rule is perhaps most accurately called “the rule forbidding remainders to the grantor’s heirs”

Answer 42

Another name for the Doctrine of Worthier Title

Question 43

Definition of the Doctrine of Worthier Title

Answer 43

An inter vivos conveyance for life, with remainder to the heirs of the conveyor is ineffective to create a remainder, but leaves in the conveyor a reversion which will pass by operation of law upon his death, unless he otherwise disposes of it.

Question 44

When an executory interest, following a fee simple in land, is void under the Rule Against Perpetuities, the prior interest becomes absolute unless the language of the creating instrument makes it very clear that the prior point of interest is to terminate whether the executory interest takes effect or not.

Answer 44

The rule in City of Klamath Falls v. Bell

Question 45

Violating the Rule Against Perpetuities does not void the entire conveyance…

Answer 45

… Just the portion that violates the rule