Present Estates Flashcards
Devisable
can pass by will
Descendible
will pass by the statutes of intestacy if its holder dies intestate (w/o a will)
Alienable
transferable inter vivos (during the holder’s lifetime)
“To A” or “To A and his heirs”
Fee simple absolute
Fee simple absolute: distinguishing characteristics
absolute ownership of potentially infinite duration
freely devisable, descendible, alienable
Fee simple absolute: accompanying future interest?
No
“To A for so long as…”
“To A during…”
“To A until…”
Defeasible fee: fee simple determinable
Clear durational language
If stated condition violated, forfeiture automatic
Devisable, descendible, alienable BUT always subject to the condition
“To A for so long as…”
“To A during…”
“To A until…”
Future interest?
Possibility of reverter in grantor
“To A, but if X event occurs, grantor reserves the right to re-enter and retake “
Fee simple subject to condition subsequent
Estate NOT automatically ended, but it can be cut short at the grantor’s option, if the stated condition occurs
Ross conveys “To Rachel, but if coffee is ever consumed on the premises, grantor reserves the right to re-enter and retake”
What do Ross and Rachel have?
Rachel: fee simple subject to condition subsequent
Ross: right of reentry synonymous with the power of termination
“To A, but if X event occurs, then to B”
Fee simple subject to executory limitation
If condition broken, estate is automatically forfeited in favor of someone OTHER than the grantor
Future interest in B: shifting executory interest
“To Barry, but if Barry ever performs music on the premises, then to Mandy”
What do Barry and Mandy have?
Barry: fee simple subject to Mandy’s SHIFTING executory interest
Mandy: shifting executory interest
O conveys: “To A for life”
What do O and A have?
A: life estate (A is “life tenant”)
O: reversion (at the end of A’s lifetime, estate reverts back to O or O’s heirs
O conveys: “To Madonna, for the life of David Letterman”
What is this? What do Madonna and O have?
life estate pur autre vie
Madonna: life estate pur autre vie
O: Reversion (at end of Letterman’s life, estate reverts back to O or O’s heirs)
Life tenant’s entitlements are rooted in the important doctrine of…
waste
