W1-5 Short Q's

Question 1

What is tenure?

Answer 1

The notion of one person holding land from or under another person and that that land is held upon certain terms which govern how the landholder can deal with that land.

Question 2

What is the difference between tenure and estates?

Answer 2

Tenure refers to how the land is held and estate refers to how long the land is held.

Question 3

What are the two main meanings ascribed to the term estates in property law?

Answer 3

1. Freehold estates: fee simple, fee tail, life estates.

2. Leasehold estates: originally a purely private contract, is always less than a freehold estate.

Question 4

Name two types of tenure?

Answer 4

• Free

- Unfree

Question 5

What are services?

Answer 5

Acts preformed by the tenant for his lord such as provide knights, or a portion of harvest, etc.

Question 6

What are incidents?

Answer 6

Regular rights that the landlord could claim regarding his tenants such as the right to elect a spouse for any tenant.

Question 7

Explain the concept of terra nullius?

Answer 7

The concept that ownership by seizure of a thing no one owns is legitimate.

Question 8

What are the four unities and why are they important?

Answer 8

The four unities are the unity of time, possession, interest and title. They are important because all four are required for co-owners to hold as joint tenants.

Question 9

How many unities are required for a tenancy in common?

Answer 9

Only one must be present - unity of possession.

Question 10

What is the doctrine of Commorientes?

Answer 10

The doctrine of commorientes refers to when 2 people (usually spouses) die at the same time. When this occurs, joint tenancies are converted to tenancies in common with equal shares, each share forming the estate of the deceased partner.

Question 11

Name two ways a co-ownership can be ended?

Answer 11

1. Union in a sole tenant: occurs through survivorship or through one tenant buying out the other.
2. Partitioning the property.

Question 12

In co-ownership, what does severance refer to?

Answer 12

Severance refers to a loss of one of the four unities of the joint tenancy, therefore converting it into a tenancy in common.

Question 13

Name two other types of co-ownership other than TIC and JT and explain them briefly?

Answer 13

1. Coparcenary: arose whenever land descended to two or more persons constituting the ‘heirs’ of the previous owner. In such cases, the property (on the death of the owner intestate) descended to that person’s heir-at-law.
2. Tenancy by entireties: A form of joint tenancy to which the common law ascribed some special characteristics based on its attitude to the relationship of unity between husband and wife. The creation of these tenancies has been prevented since 1883 and affirmed in Kennedy v Ryan 1938.

Question 14

What are the three remaining and recognised forms of freehold estates?

Answer 14

1. Fee simple
2. Fee tail
3. Life estate

Question 15

What are words of limitation?

Answer 15

In Common law the principle was established that a freehold estate could be created only if the grantor used the words of limitation appropriate for that particular estate.
The expression ‘words of limitation’ means, therefore, the words delimiting or defining the estate being conveyed.

Question 16

What is the difference between words of limitation and words of purchase?

Answer 16

Words of purchase refer to the transfer of real property, they identify the grantees or designees who take the interest being conveyed by deed or will.
Whereas words of limitation define the estate being conveyed.

Question 17

What are the current words of limitation required to create a fee simple? What words of limitation were previously required?

Answer 17

Previously Shelleys rule said: the words ‘heirs’ or ‘heirs of his body’ are words of limitation and not words of purchase.’
Post Shelleys rule: if the words provide ‘to A for life, remainder to A’s heirs’, A obtains a life interest only, and A’s heirs obtain a fee simple in remainder.

Question 18

What happens if your conveyance does not have the appropriate words of limitation?

Answer 18

Appropriate words of limitation MUST be used to create a fee simple.
The LCLRA 2009 has mitigated a failure to use the appropriate words of limitation, but they remain important in order to take advantage of implied covenants for title.

Question 19

What is the greatest estate in land which can be held?

Answer 19

Fee simple freehold owners have the right to exclusive possession of the land forever.

Question 20

Name the two kinds of modified fee simple estates recognised by Irish law following 2009?

Answer 20

Conditional estates
Fee farm grants
???????

Question 21

What is the difference between a determinable fee simple and a fee simple on condition?

Answer 21

Determinable fee: a form of estate which by its terms terminates automatically on the occurrence of a particular event or condition. The creator has the possibility of reverter.
Conditional fee: when the condition applies the estate may terminate. The original grantor (or his successors) may become entitled to the property again but to do so they must gain right of entry within 12 years of the condition applying or else the statute of limitations is passed