Estates and Future Interests Flashcards
The five primary possessory estates before 1536
- Fee Simple Absolute
- Fee Tail
- Life Estate
- Fee simple subject to condition subsequent
- Fee simple determinable
Fee Simple Absolute
a) Must use words “and his heirs”- words of limitation
b) Heritable, alienable, and devisable
c) Largest possible interest
Fee Tail
a) Words of limitation- “and the heirs of his body”
b) Not devisable, not alienable, heritable by direct lineal descendent
Life estate
a) Words of limitation- “for life”
b) Life estate Pur autre vie- when you give a life estate that you have to another person,
i) The estate is measured by the life of the original holder of the life estate (which must be a person)
c) Alienable (but can only convey what you have; a life estate), not heritable, not devisable
Fee simple subject to condition subsequent
a) Words of limitation- will use conditional language (“unless”; “provided that”; “but if”)
b) Has the potential to last forever but is defeasible if the condition is/isn’t met
c) Conceptually different from fee simple determinable because you are giving all that you have to give but with a string attached
Alienable, heritable, devisable
Fee Simple determinable
a) Words of limitation- durational language (“so long as”; “while”; “until”)
b) Has the potential to last forever but is defeasible if the condition is/isn’t met
c) Conceptually different from fee simple subject to condition subsequent because you aren’t giving all that you have
Reversion
a) The part of the estate that you retained when you gave away a “lesser title” (i.e. fee tail, life estate)- Future interest in grantor
b) My ability to prevent you from misusing the land goes up as the likelihood of my reversion goes up
c) Inheritable, alienable, and devisable
The possibility of reverter
Future interest in grantor from conveying a fee simple determinable
Becomes possessory automatically
Not alienable, not devisable, inheritable
Right of Entry
Future interest in grantor from conveying a fee simple subject to condition subsequent
Becomes possessory only if the grantor entered the property and acted on their right from the condtion not being met
Not alienable, not devisable, inheritable
Remainder
created in the grantee
3 rules to make one (before 1536)
- Must follow an expirable estate (fee tail, or life estate)
- Must be capable of becoming possessory immediately upon the expiration of the prior estate
- Cannot cut short the interest of the preceding estate
Contingent Remainder
- X is unborn or unascertainable; or
- A condition must be met before X may come into possession (i.e. a condition precedent)
Not alienable, not devisable, heritable
Alternative contingent remainders
X has a contingent remainder, and X’s remainder is followed immediately by Y’s FI which is also a Future Interest and only becomes possessory exactly in those terms in which X’s remainder doesn’t
Vested remainder
- X is a person who is born and ascertainable
- NO condition other than the expiration of the preceding estate must be met before X’s interest becomes present possessory
-Alienable, inheritable, and devisable
Doctrine of Destructibility of Contingent Remainders
3 ways to destroy a contingent remainder
- Condition is not met before or on the expiration of preceding estate
- Destroyed by Merger
- Destroyed through forfeiture
Vested remainder subject to open
Not indefeasibly vested (i.e. Vested remainder subject to partial divestment)
Happens when the class of people can keep getting bigger.
O–> A for life, then to those children of A who reach 21
