Life Estates and Defeasible Fees, RAP Flashcards
Re: North Gower Township Public School and Todd
Facts: Schoolboard P was conveyed land by A in fee simple subject to condition: should the land cease to be used for school purposes, the land (not buildings etc) will revert to A’s estate. Condition was stated to last forever. P sells land to D but D gets cold feet and is trying to void sale.
Held: P wins: restriction is a CS which is voided under RAP, giving P fee simple absolute. Sale allowed to go forward.
Reasons:
- P claims the restriction is a CS, which would be caught under RAP and leave P with a fee simple absolute
- D claims it was a fee simple determinable, the possibility of reverter to A was a vested interest so RAP didn’t apply
- ONCA says it’s not a FSD
- It’s sometimes difficult to decide if CS or FSD unless a name is put in the document creating it, or unless the consequences which flow from the one interest or the other are explicitly spelled out
- ONCA satisfied this limitation is a FS upon CS, as the restriction is a superadded condition upon a grant of fee simple, rather than an integral part of the very limitation of estate (add-on rather than integral part)
o Therefore the restriction is invalid
- ONCA reads Public Schools Act as neutral in its effect on validity of estates/interest in land: the statute was focused on the power of a school board, not the validity of its property terms
- Since restriction invalid, 9a did not have to be invoked by P. Sale can move forward.
Scurry Rainbow Oil v Taylor
Facts: D’s dad A granted lease to B to all the O&G on A’s land for 10 years. Clause: 10 years and “for so long thereafter as leased substances were produced from the lands”. No production, and lease expired after 10 years. Meanwhile, A negotiated a grant with P: P would get a top lease to the same land upon expiration of B’s lease.
Held: P wins. RAP meant to further alienability, help commercial development. It would be ironic in this case if we used RAP to hinder commercial development. A rigid application of the orthodox RAP rule does not reflect modern realities of oil/gas industry.
