Ownership Flashcards
(11 cards)
What are the different types of present estates?
Fee simple absolute (indefeasible, total/absolute and indefinite ownership)
Fee simple determinable (defeasible, words of duration)
Fee simple subject to condition subsequent (defeasible, words of condition)
Fee simple subject to executory interest (defeasible, conditional or durational, then references a third party)
Life estate (possibly defeasible depending on conveyance, lasts at most the term of grantee’s life)
fee simple absolute
this is the ownership in an estate that is absolute. It is alienable, devisable, and descendible. It can also be infinite.
What is an express versus presumed fee simple absolute?
Express means that the conveyance contains words related to purchase and limitations.
i.e. I give this land to my daughter and her heirs.
All conveyances are presumed to be fee simple unless they contain language otherwise.
i.e. I give this land to my daughter.
What is an indefeasible fee?
These are present property interests that are alienable/devisible/descendible, potentially infinite, but terminate based upon the occurrence of a certain event (lapse of time, lapse of a condition, etc).
The types of indefeasible fees are:
fee simple determinable
fee simple subject to condition subsequent
fee simple subject to executory interest
What are the different types of future interests that accompany each type of defeasible fee?
fee simple determinable; grantor’s possibility of reverter
fee simple subject to condition subsequent; grantor’s right of reentry
fee simple subject to executory interest; third party’s executory interest
What is a life estate?
A life estate is a present estate.
Assuming it is indefeasible, grantee’s possessory interest in the estate is terminated when they die.
During their life, they may transfer their interest to others.
What rights does a life tenant have? What duties does a life tenant have?
They can possess the property, sell or lease the property, or mortgage the property.
They can collect rent from people they lease the property to.
They must pay the charges due on the property, like taxes and mortgages. The third party can sue the life tenant’s estate for damages up to the financial benefit the life tenant received from the property. If the life tenant occupies the property, this benefit is the fair market rental value of the property. If the life tenant does not occupy the property, this is the income from the property (rent, agriculture, etc).
They also have a duty to ensure that, when they deliver the property back to the future-interest holder, the property is in substantially the same condition it was in when they took possession of it, with normal wear and tear being permissible (doctrine of waste).
Their duty to pay prior existing mortgages and assessments will be allocated between them and the future-interest holder–whether that be the grantor or a third party.
What is the doctrine of waste?
Under the doctrine of waste, a person with a life estate in a property must, upon the termination of their interest, deliver the property to the future-interest holder in the substantially same condition it was in when they took possession of it, with normal wear and tear being permissible.
What are the different types of waste and what are a life tenant’s duties with respect to each?
Permissive waste: waste due to neglect, a life tenant has a duty to not neglect the property, they must make reasonable repairs when necessary.
Affirmative waste: waste due to intentional conduct and that substantially diminishes the value of the property, a life tenant has a duty not to diminish the value of the property.
Ameliorative waste: waste due to intentional conduct that either does not effect or increases the value of the property, the life tenant’s changes must be in keeping with a reasonable use for the property and not be objected to by the party holding the future-interest.
What are the different types of future interests in a life estate?
A reversion is a future interest in a life estate held by the grantor.
A remainder is a future interest in a life estate held by a third party.
A remainder may be vested, meaning there is an ascertained grantee/third party and the remainder is not subject to any conditions.
A vested remainder may be a vested remainder subject to open, meaning that there is a class of future interest holders, some of whom are vested and some of whom are not.
A vested remainder may also be a vested remainder subject to complete divestment, meaning that the future interest will divest upon the occurrence of a condition subsequent.
A remainder may also be contingent, meaning there is either no ascertainable grantee or the remainder is subject to condition(s). If a contingent remainder never vests, the interest is a reversion back to the grantor. If it does vest, the grantor has no future interest.
What are the different types of future exectuory interests?
Executory limitation (aka executory interest)
Shifting executory interest (aka when the interest shifts from the initial grantee to the third party; grantee divests another grantee)
Springing executory interest (aka when the interest shifts from the initial grantee back to the original grantor and then springs to a third party; grantee divests grantor)
