Estates and Future Interests

Question 1

What are the parties names in a transfer by deed?

Answer 1

Grantor to Grantee

Question 2

What action does a Grantor do when transferring a deed?

Answer 2

“Conveys”

Process: conveyance/grant

Question 3

What are the parties names in a transfer by will?

Answer 3

Testator or Testatrix to Devisee

Question 4

What action does a Testator/Testatrix do when transferring a will?

Answer 4

“Devises”

Question 5

What is interstate succession?

Answer 5

When someone dies without a will etc., their assets and property are distributed by the state who determines who gets what.

Question 6

What are the parties in a transfer by interstate succession?

Answer 6

Deceased to Heir (via the state)

Question 7

What action does the state do (on behalf of a deceased) in interstate succession?

Answer 7

“Descends”

Process: Interstate succession

Question 8

What is a fee simple absolute?

Answer 8

= Absolute ownership of potentially infinite duration. Freely devisable, descendible and alienable.

(X assigns to Y “and heirs”)

Question 9

What is a life estate?

Answer 9

Transferee has ownership of estate for the entirety of their life but no more. Life tenant (owner of life estate) must not commit waste as future interest is held by someone else.

(X assigns to Y “for life”)

Question 10

What is a “Pur autre vie”?

Answer 10

The duration of a life estate measured by the life of a person other than the grantee

(X to Y for the life of Z)

Question 11

What is a defeasible estate?

Answer 11

Subject to a special provision that may end an estate prematurely if a particular event occurs.

Question 12

What are the two things to look for when evaluating a fact pattern for estates?

Answer 12

Words of purchase: who gets what

Words of limitation: what is their present and future interest in an estate + any conditions attached

Question 13

What is the “Waste Doctrine” and what type of estate is it attached to?

Answer 13

Main doctrine used to resolve land disputes when property rights are divided btwn present owner and another holding future interest.

For: Life Estates

Question 14

What is a fee tail?

Answer 14

Rarely used today. Allows an owner to transmit property through generations of descendants w/o sale to 3rd parties.

(X to Y and “heirs of her body”)

Question 15

What are the three defeasible fees?

Answer 15

• Fee simple determinable
• Fee simple subject to condition subsequent
• Fee simple subject to executory limitation

Question 16

What does “so long as” “during” “while” and “until” point to in a fact pattern?

Answer 16

Fee simple determinable

Question 17

What is a fee simple determinable?

Answer 17

The granting of an estate w/clear durational language of a condition.

If condition is violated or actualized, forfeiture is automatic.

This estate is: devisable, descendible, and alienable but subject to the condition

Future Interest in Grantor: Possibility of reverter

Question 18

What does “on the condition” “provided that” “but if” point to in a fact pattern?

Answer 18

Fee Simple Subject to a Condition Subsequent

Question 19

What is a Fee Simple Subject to a Condition Subsequent?

Answer 19

The granting of an estate w/clear durational language of a condition.

If condition is violated or actualized, forfeiture is NOT automatic.

This estate is: devisable, descendible, and alienable but subject to the condition

Future Interest in Grantor: (not automatic), right of entry

Question 20

When a fact pattern has “so long as” etc. or “but if” + a third party other than transferor and transferee, what does this create?

Answer 20

Fee Simple Subject to an Executory Limitation

Question 21

What is a Fee Simple Subject to an Executory Limitation?

Answer 21

A defeasible fee (has a condition), which grants present possession rights from the grantor to the grantee, but a third party (not the grantor) has future interest.

if condition breached, forfeiture is automatic to 3rd party

The 3rd party who stands to obtain future interest if grantee violates condition has a shifting executory interest