Estates Basics Flashcards
Understand the terminology and differentiate between the different types of possessory estates.
What is the terms for relatives like aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, and sisters?
Collaterals
What is a “devisee”?
A beneficiary of real property under a will.
What’s wrong with the following sentence? How would you correct it?
All of the heirs gathered at the lawyer’s office to learn what the decedent had left them in his will.
“Heirs” are those who take in the absence of a will. “Devisees” are those who take under a will.
Change to: All of the devisees gathered at the lawyer’s office to learn what the decedent had left them in his will.
Fill in the blank: Anne Smith has made an appointment with her lawyer to have her will drawn. She intends to ______ her house to her son.
Devise
Fill in the blank: Jeremy Parker died _____ [without a will].
Intestate
Are “convey” and “sell” synonyms?
Not quite. To “convey” includes both transfer by sale and transfer by gift.
Fill in the blank: The _____ [dead person] has no heirs.
Decedent
Name some examples of a person’s collaterals.
Siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.
What’s wrong with the following sentence? How would you correct it?
Since Harold did not have a will, Maude is the devisee of his entire estate.
A “devisee” is one who receives real property under a will. Maude is the “heir” of Harold’s estate.
Change to: Since Harold did not have a will, Maude is the heir of his entire estate.
What is the term for a person’s children and grandchildren?
Issue
What is the term for a person’s parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents?
Ancestors
Fill in the blank: Hazel’s will left a ____ [an item of personal property disposed of by a will] to her brother.
Bequest
Fill in the blank: If Hazel had not died ____ [with a will], all of her estate would have passed to her daughter.
Testate
Name some examples of a person’s “issue.”
Children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren
Fill in the blank: Francine had never married. She died without a will, and all of her blood relatives had died many years before. Therefore, her property will ___ to the state.
Escheat
What’s wrong with the following sentence?
All of Barbara’s heirs are coming to visit her this summer.
A living person has no heirs.
David’s father has just written a will naming David as the sole beneficiary of the family business. What property interest does David have as a result of being named in the will?
None. A will creates no interests in property until the testator dies.
What is the name for the part of the conveyance that tells you who is receiving the conveyed interest?
Words of purchase
What is the name for the part of the conveyance that tells you what kind of interest that person is receiving?
Words of limitation
Which estate(s) can be said to be “absolute”?
Only a fee simple can be absolute.
What are the inherently limited estates?
A life estate and term of years. (Plus, a fee tail.)
What kinds of estates “end naturally”?
A life estate and term of years. (Plus, a fee tail.)
Which kind of estate ends automatically upon the happening of a limiting condition?
A determinable estate.
Which kind of estate does NOT end automatically upon the happening of a limiting condition?
An estate subject to condition subsequent.
Name four examples of words of phrases of “temporal limitation” that signal a determinable estate.
until, while, so long as, during
Name four examples of words of phrases of “temporal limitation” that signal an estate subject to condition subsequent.
but if, provided that, on condition that, however
Which allows the grantor to postpone the decision about whether to enforce the decision? (Determinable or Subject to a Condition Subsequent)
An estate subject to a condition subsequent
Which uses the condition as the durational marker defining the length of the estate granted? (Determinable or Subject to a Condition Subsequent)
Determinable estate
In which estate does the occurrence of the condition trigger the grantor’s right to interrupt the prior estate? (Determinable or Subject to a Condition Subsequent)
An estate subject to a condition subsequent
