Vocab

Question 1

Divest

Answer 1

To rid (oneself) of (something) by selling or donating . 2. To take away from . 3. (Of a company, investor, etc.) to sell (assets, investments, etc.) .

DIVEST, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)

Question 2

Divestment

Answer 2

Property. The cutting short of an interest in property before its normal termination. 2. The complete or partial loss of an interest in an asset, such as land or stock.

DIVESTMENT, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)

Question 3

Vested

Answer 3

Having become a completed, consummated right for present or future enjoyment; not contingent; unconditional; absolute <a>.</a>

VESTED, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)</a>

Question 4

Vested in Interest

Answer 4

Consummated in a way that will result in future possession and use. • Reversions, vested remainders, and any other future use or executory devise that does not depend on an uncertain period or event are all said to be vested in interest.

VESTED, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)

Question 5

Vested Remainder

Answer 5

A remainder that is given to an ascertained person and that is not subject to a condition precedent. • An example is “to A for life, and then to B.” — Also termed executed remainder; present fixed right of future enjoyment.

“The distinction between vested and contingent remainders is of fundamental importance, both in the old and in the modern law. A remainder is vested if two conditions are satisfied: (i) the person or persons entitled to it must be ascertained; and (ii) it must be ready to take effect in possession forthwith, and be prevented from doing so only by the existence of some prior interest or interests. If either condition is not satisfied, the remainder is contingent.” Robert Megarry & H.W.R. Wade, The Law of Real Property 173–74 (4th ed. 1975).

REMAINDER, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)

Question 6

Contingent Remainder

Answer 6

A remainder that is either given to an unascertained person or made subject to a condition precedent. • An example is “to A for life, and then, if B has married before A dies, to B.” — Also termed executory remainder; remainder subject to a condition precedent.

“Unlike a vested remainder, a contingent remainder is either subject to a condition precedent (in addition to the natural expiration of a prior estate), or owned by unascertainable persons, or both. But the contingent remainder, like the vested remainder, ‘waits patiently’ for possession. It is so created that it can become a present estate (if ever it does) immediately upon, and no sooner than, the natural expiration of particular estates that stand in front of it and were created simultaneously with it.” Thomas F. Bergin & Paul G. Haskell, Preface to Estates in Land and Future Interests 73 (2d ed. 1984).

REMAINDER, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)

Question 7

Hypothecate

Answer 7

To pledge (property) as security or collateral for a debt, without delivery of title or possession.

HYPOTHECATE, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)

Question 8

Right of Entry

Answer 8

The right of taking or resuming possession of land or other real property in a peaceable manner.

RIGHT OF ENTRY, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)

Question 9

Possibility of Reverter

Answer 9

A reversionary interest that is subject to a condition precedent; specif., a future interest retained by a grantor after conveying a fee simple determinable, so that the grantee’s estate terminates automatically and reverts to the grantor if the terminating event ever occurs. • In this type of interest, the grantor transfers an estate whose maximum potential duration equals that of the grantor’s own estate and attaches a special limitation that operates in the grantor’s favor.

“Most treatise-writers define the possibility of reverter as the interest a transferor keeps when he transfers a fee simple determinable or a fee simple conditional. See, e.g., 1 American Law of Property § 4.12; Simes & Smith § 281. Although this definition is all right as far as it goes, it fails to provide for interests less than the fee simple that are granted on special limitation … Although we call the possibility of reverter an ‘estate,’ the courts of an earlier era would probably have called it a ‘possibility of becoming an estate.’” Thomas F. Bergin & Paul G. Haskell, Preface to Estates in Land and Future Interests 58 n.5 (2d ed. 1984).

POSSIBILITY OF REVERTER, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014)