Adverse Possession of Chattels

Question 1

Elements to establish adverse possession of chattels

Answer 1

open and notorious
good faith in value
prescriptive value

Question 2

Statute of limitations runs

Answer 2

from the time of the wrongful possession, not from the time when the owner first had knowledge thereof

Question 3

Discovery rule

Answer 3

• Discovery rule focuses on whether owner has acted with due diligence in pursuing his or her personal property.

The Discovery Rule provides that, in an appropriate case, a cause of action will not accrue until the injured party discovers, or by the exercise of reasonable diligence and intelligence should have discovered, facts
that form the basis of a cause of action.

Question 4

Good faith purchasers

Answer 4

Void contracts are invalid from the start, while voidable contracts can be
canceled or kept as they are by one of the parties (typically, the aggrieved
party)

Question 5

Inter Vivos gift definition

Answer 5

immediate transfer of property rights from the donor to the donee, without any payment or consideration

Question 6

Intervivos elements

Answer 6

To have an enforceable legal rights in a gift, one must show
- donative intent, must indent immediate transfer
- delivery
- acceptance

Question 7

Inter Vivos Gift v Testamentary

Answer 7

Test for testamentary v. inter vivos gift (whether the maker intended the gift to have no effect until after death or whether the maker intended a present transfer)

valid inter vivos is irrevocable

Question 8

Gruen v Gruen (inter vivos gift)

Answer 8

father’s letters effected a present delivery of the gift

I give you the painting WHEN I die = not inter vivos gift
I give you the painting, but want to keep it until I die = present transfer
- father (life estate present interest), son (title, future interest)

Question 9

Manual Delivery

Answer 9

Donor gives the item to the donee.
Required if practicable.

Question 10

Constructive Delivery

Answer 10

Donor gives an object to the donee that
provides access to the item (a key, for
example). Allowed if manual
impracticable.

Question 11

Symbolic Delivery

Answer 11

Donor gives a symbol of the object to the
donee (letters in Gruen, a note for stock
shares). Allowed if manual
impracticable.

Question 12

Gifts Causa Mortis

Answer 12

A gift causa mortis is a gift of personal property made by a living
person in contemplation of death. The elements are:
* DONATIVE INTENT
* DELIVERY
* ACCEPTANCE
* DONOR’S ANTICIPATION OF IMMINENT DEATH.

Question 13

Is Gift Causa Mortis revocable

Answer 13

• A gift causa mortis is revocable by the donor any time before her death.
• if the donor recovers, the gift is automatically revoked

Question 14

Gift Causa Mortis- Suicide

Answer 14

• New Jersey Supreme Court’s ruling in Scherer v. Hyland; donor’s death by suicide;
  recognized a gift causa mortis
• A claimant must prove that (1) donative intent; (2) donor made the gift with a view to the donor’s death from present illness or from an external and apprehended peril; (3)
  the donor died of that ailment or peril; and (4) delivery
• His note is not a valid will because it was not signed by two witnesses. His note
  would be a holographic will (a will was handwritten and signed by the decedent)