How Ownership is Acquired and Conveyed

Question 1

What are the two most common testamentary instruments?

Answer 1

Wills and Trusts

Question 2

disposes of a property after death, and the two types recognized in Texas are attested and holographic.

Answer 2

What is a will

Question 3

A three-party relationship in which one party, known as the trustor or settlor, places property into the possession and control of another party, known as a trustee, for the benefit of a third party, known as a beneficiary.

Answer 3

What is a trust?

Question 4

not having made a will before one dies

Answer 4

What is intestate

Question 5

an involuntary transfer in which the original owner loses possession when he or she fails to use land, and another individual, known as the claimant, makes use of the land for a prescribed period.

Answer 5

What is adverse possession

Question 6

title may be gained or lost through natural causes such as

Answer 6

accession, accretion, alluvion, reliction, erosion, avulsion, and subsidence

Question 7

How is ownership of the land demonstrated within a given jurisdiction?

Answer 7

Evidence of title

Question 8

allows documents that affect title to real property to be filed.

Answer 8

What is Texas Recording Act

Question 9

the transfer of the title to real property and possession of lands, tenements, or other things, from one person to another.

Answer 9

What is alienation

Question 10

transfer of property may be voluntary or involuntary such as

Answer 10

an example of voluntary being the sale of a home, and an example of involuntary being an act of law such as foreclosure sale.

Question 11

common methods used to transfer property voluntarily

Answer 11

What are Deeds and Wills

Question 12

If the owner of real property is alive, how would he or she transfer real property?

Answer 12

Conveyance is achieved by executing a deed to convey title; Otherwise, if the owner has died, the conveyance is through a will that is subject to probate.

Question 13

What does subject to probate mean?

Answer 13

the judicial process whereby a will is “proved” in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased

Question 14

How would you describe involuntary alienation and what are the different terms used to describe involuntary alienation? There are six terms used to describe, what are they?

Answer 14

a title can be transferred involuntarily by operation of law, government action, adverse possession, intestacy, foreclosure, or even by physical changes in the land itself

Question 15

What is a title?

Answer 15

The title is the ownership of real estate or personal property. With real estate, title is evidenced by a deed recorded in the county land records office.

Question 16

What is title vesting?

Answer 16

is the evidence that the owner of the land is in lawful possession; it is the proof of ownership.

Question 17

What is an undivided interest and how does it work?

Answer 17

An undivided interest is considered tenancy in common, and unlike joint tenancy, it does not have the right to survivorship; thus, when a tenant dies in a tenancy in common, instead of of the tenents portion going to a joint tenant it is instead passed on to heirs rather than other interest holders.

Question 18

What do undivided interests include?

Answer 18

concurrent ownership, business ownership, common interests developments or CIDs, and timeshares.

Question 19

how is property acquired?

Answer 19

property is acquired by transfer by an act of the parties or law, title is conveyed from one person to another by means of a written document.

Question 20

What is the most common method of transferring real property?

Answer 20

with a Deed

Question 21

what are the essential elements of a valid deed?

Answer 21

must be in writing, competent grantor and an identifiable grantee, sufficient legal description, granting clause, signed by the grantor, delivery by the grantor and acceptance by the grantee.

Question 22

what are the five commonly used private grant deeds?

Answer 22

general warranty deed, special warranty deed, a deed without warranty(bargain and sell), quitclaim deeds, and other special use deeds.

Question 23

Non- dischargeable debts include

Answer 23

income taxes, child support, alimony, student loans, gambling debts, and criminal fines.

Question 24

What is a tax sale and what do the people who buy such properties receive?

Answer 24

the forced sale of real property (usually via an auction) by a taxing authority (usually the county) to satisfy delinquent ad valorem property taxes along with any penalties and costs. Persons who buy such property receive a tax deed.

Question 25

What is an Execution Sale?

Answer 25

a forced sale of property under a writ of execution with the proceeds used to satisfy a money judgment.

Question 26

What is a sheriff’s deed?

Answer 26

A sheriff’s deed, as the name implies, is issued by the sheriff of the county where real property is located when the property goes through a sheriff’s sale to satisfy a civil court judgment against the property owner.

Question 27

What is condemnation?

Answer 27

Condemnation is the process by
which the government acquires
private property for public use, under
its right of eminent domain

Question 28

What is an example of inverse condemnation?

Answer 28

If a public improvement affects the natural drainage in an area, water might collect on a portion of a nearby private parcel where it never had accumulated previously. The landowner could argue that the flooding of his land due to the public improvement is in effect a “taking” without just compensation.

Question 29

The person who has died, known as the decedent, can leave written instructions or a

Answer 29

testamentary instrument (usually in the form of a will or trust)

Question 30

A will disposes of property after death. A gift of real property by will is a

Answer 30

devise and the decedent is the devisor

Question 31

A gift of money or personal property by will is a

Answer 31

bequest or legacy

Question 32

must be in writing and signed by the testator in person or by another person for the testator (in the testator’s presence) and be attested by two or more credible witnesses above the age of fourteen years.

Answer 32

Attested Will

Question 33

does not require the presence of the witnesses when the will is admitted to probate. In order to create a self-proved will, the maker and the two witnesses sign a statutory form in front of a notary.

Answer 33

self-proved will

Question 34

a will written entirely in the deceased’s handwriting and signed by the maker.

Answer 34

Holographic will, Holographic wills need no witnesses to be valid and Texas law does not require that a holographic will be dated.

Question 35

a later testamentary instrument that supplements or affects the validity or dispositions of an earlier will. A [Blank] can be used to accomplish such purposes as adding to a prior will, revoking or partially revoking a prior will, reviving a previously revoked will, or validating an invalid will.

Answer 35

Codicil

Question 36

The Texas Probate Code provides two methods for revoking a will. A testator can revoke a will by a

Answer 36

subsequent writing or physical act

Question 37

What is the difference between testate and intestate?

Answer 37

testate is someone who dies with a will, intestate is someone who dies without a will.

Question 38

refers to the legal process established by the Texas Probate Code by which the court recognizes someone’s death and authorizes the administration of the estate.

Answer 38

Probate

Question 39

There are several reasons why someone might choose a trust instead of a will to dispose of property after death. Unlike a will, the validity of which must be approved by a court through the probate process, a trust can

Answer 39

be established while the settlor is alive.

Question 40

Despite these considerations, there are some reasons why someone might choose not to use a trust in their estate planning.

Answer 40

A will is simpler and easier to prepare and many people, especially those with a smaller estate or fewer heirs, manage to get by with just a holographic or attested will. A trust is a complicated legal document that almost certainly should be prepared by an attorney, perhaps one specializing in estate planning. The up-front cost of preparing a trust is therefore likely to be higher than for a will.

Question 41

Generally speaking, there are two kinds of trusts

Answer 41

inter vivos and testamentary. Inter vivos trusts (i.e., “between living persons”) are established while the settlor is still alive and can be managed by the settlor himself or herself until he or she dies. Testamentary trusts are established by will.

Question 42

Texas distributes property to the decedent’s descendants according to

Answer 42

per stirpes (“by roots”) distribution

Question 43

is the property owner’s right to anything (even personal property) that is added to the real property by the efforts of man or natural forces.
The land itself can be enlarged or reduced by natural forces—gradually through accretion and reliction or quickly through avulsion.

Answer 43

Accession

Question 44

is the gradual and imperceptible addition of land to a parcel by the natural deposition and accumulation of alluvium (or alluvion) upon the bank of a stream or river. Another gradual change is reliction, which is the process of land adjacent to a watercourse covered by water becoming uncovered because of receding water

Answer 44

Gradual Changes, Accretion

Question 45

is the process by which the action of water causes a sudden, perceptible loss of or addition to land. A large quantity of land is suddenly removed from the land of one person and added to the shore of another person— usually caused by flood or a change in the stream.

Answer 45

Sudden Changes, Avulsion

Question 46

The 5-Year Statute does not require the adverse possessor to provide

Answer 46

title or color of title. Rather, he or she needs only to cultivate, use, or enjoy the property in some way for an uninterrupted five-year period while paying taxes on the disputed property. Additionally, a recorded deed must be produced.

Question 47

The 10-Year Statute, sometimes referred to as squatter’s rights, does not require the adverse possessor to show any

Answer 47

documentation of possession, i.e., proof of paying taxes or recorded deed or any other form of conveyance. The claimant merely must openly and notoriously maintain possession of the property for ten years without interruption or permission. This statute sets a limit to 160 acres unless there is documentation that explicitly states a larger acreage.

Question 48

What is the legal process that takes place when property reverts to the state when an individual dies without a will and no legal heirs?

Answer 48

Escheat

Question 49

is the means by which the ownership of land is satisfactorily demonstrated within a given jurisdiction.

Answer 49

evidence of title

Question 50

There are four kinds of evidence of title:

Answer 50

abstract and opinion, certificate of title, title insurance and Torrens certificate of title. In farm areas, the abstract and opinion method is common. The certificate of title is used extensively in the Eastern states, and some Southern states. In urban centers in a great many sections of the country, title insurance occupies a dominant position in real estate transactions. Some states, such as Iowa, still use the Torrens system. To a great extent, the acceptability of a particular kind of evidence of title depends on the local custom.

Question 51

is an abstract of title prepared by an abstract company or individual engaged in the business of preparing abstracts of title and accompanied by the legal opinion as to the quality of such title signed by an attorney at law experienced in examination of titles. If title evidence consists of an Abstract and an Attorney’s Certificate of Title, the search shall extend for at least forty years prior to the date of the certificate to a well-recognized source of good title.

Answer 51

The abstract and legal opinion

Question 52

A deed must meet certain basic requirements to accomplish the transfer of title. First, as anything else involved in the transfer of real property, it must be in writing so that it complies with

Answer 52

statutes of fraud

Question 53

What was created in response to the need for reliable assurance of title?

Answer 53

Title insurance was created in response to the need for reliable assurance of title combined with an insurance against loss caused by errors in searching records and reporting the status of title

Question 54

What is established while the settlor is still alive and can be managed by the settlor himself or herself until he or she dies?

Answer 54

Inter vivos trusts

Question 55

What is the legal process to determine creditors’ claims and beneficiaries’ interests in an estate upon the owner’s death?

Answer 55

Probate is the legal process to prove that a will is valid. Probate proceedings are held in the superior court to determine creditors’ claims and beneficiaries’ interests in an estate upon the owner’s death.

Question 56

occurs when one person steals the personal property of someone else and adds labor and/or materials to it.

Answer 56

What is accession

Question 57

the increase of the actual land on a stream, lake or sea by the action of water which deposits soil upon the shoreline

Answer 57

Accretion

Question 58

These terms are used interchangeably, accretion and

Answer 58

Alluvion

Question 59

the gradual recession of water leaving land permanently uncovered

Answer 59

What is reliction

Question 60

The gradual wearing away of land due to natural causes of wind and water.

Answer 60

Erosion

Question 61

refers to water quickly submerging land or moving land to another location.

Answer 61

What is Avulsion

Question 62

occurs when the ground underneath a property begins to collapse and takes the building’s foundations with it

Answer 62

What is subsidence

Question 63

any document which may have been annexed to the will at the time of the will registration, and relating to the estate in question.

Answer 63

What is testamentary instrument