Property Vocabulary

Front 1

Define: Decedent

Back 1

A dead person.

Front 2

Define: Testate

Back 2

A decedent who dies "testate" dies with a will.

Front 3

Define: Intestate

Back 3

A person dies without a will dies "intestate."

Front 4

Define: Heirs

Back 4

The people who inherit real property from a person who dies intestate.

Front 5

Define: Devise

Back 5

To pass real property by will.

Front 6

Define: Devisee

Back 6

The person receiving real property by will.

Front 7

Define: Bequest

Back 7

Personal property passed by will.

Front 8

Define: Bequeath

Back 8

To pass personal property by will.

Front 9

Define: Issue

Back 9

A person's lineal descendants all the way down the line (to the point where the biological line dies out).

Front 10

Define: Ancestors

Back 10

A person's biological forebears all the way up the line.

Front 11

Define: Collaterals

Back 11

All blood relatives other than issue or ancestors.

Front 12

Define: Escheat

Back 12

If a decedent has no heirs or devisees, the interest in land "escheats" (passes) to the state.

Front 13

Define: Convey

Back 13

A person "conveys" land when that person transfers it to someone else. The land can be conveyed by sale or gift.

Front 14

Define: Possessory Estate

Back 14

The right to possess the land now, in the present.

Front 15

Define: Future Interest

Back 15

The right to possess the land in the future.

Front 16

Name the four possessory estates.

Back 16

1. Fee Simple
2. Fee Tail
3. Life Estate
4. Term of Years

Front 17

Define: Fee Simple

Back 17

An interest that can, theorhetically, continue forever.

Front 18

Define: Words of Purchase

Back 18

The part of a conveyance that identifies the grantee.

Front 19

Define: Words of limitation

Back 19

The part of a conveyance that identifies the nature of the estate conveyed.

Front 20

Define: Fee Tail

Back 20

An interest that passes automatically to the holder's issue upon the holder's death and that ends when the last lineal descendant dies.

Front 21

Define: Life Estate

Back 21

An interest that will end upon the death of the person whose life is designated as the measuring life.

Front 22

Define: Term of Years

Back 22

A lease for a designated period of time.

Front 23

Define: Seisin

Back 23

The right to possession of land accompanied by particular responsibilities, such as the payment of taxes.

Front 24

Define: Life Estate Pur Autre Vie

Back 24

A life estate that lasts for the duration of the life of another.

Front 25

What if the conveyance has no limitations? Ex: O to A.

Back 25

A grantor who does not use words of limitation is presumed to intend to convey all that the grantor could convey.

Front 26

Define: Absolute

Back 26

An estate without an limitations at all (with no inherent limitations and no added limitations). Only fee simple can be "absolute."

Front 27

What is the term used to indicate added limitations for a fee tail, life estate or term of years?

Back 27

There is no term to indicate the absence of added limitations for a fee tail, life estate, or term of years.

Front 28

Define: Defeasible Estate

Back 28

The name for the category of estates that could end early by the happening of a particular event. Two kinds of defeasible estates are determinable estates and subject to a condition subsequent.

Front 29

Define: Determinable

Back 29

An estate is determinable if the grantor has described its duration as measured by the occurence of a particular condition or event.

Front 30

Define: Subject to a Condition Subsequent

Back 30

An estate whose natural duration may be cut short by the happening of a particular event or condition allowing the grantor to retake the property. The event or condition is described as a part of the grantor's future interest rather than as part of the estate it may cut short

Front 31

What is the difference between an estate determinable and an estate subject to a condition subsequent?

Back 31

A determinable estate will end automatically upon the happening of the condition, while an estate subject to a condition subsequent will not.

Front 32

What is the difference between an estate determinable and an estate subject to a condition subsequent?

Back 32

A determinable estate will end automatically upon the happening of the condition, while an estate subject to a condition subsequent will not.

Front 33

O to A for life, but if A divorces, then to O. What kind of estate does A have, with what limitations?

Back 33

Possessory estate in life estate subject to a condition subsequent.

Front 34

Trigger terms for determinable limitations

Back 34

until, while, so long as, during

Front 35

Trigger terms for subject to a condition subsequent limitation

Back 35

but if, provided that, on condition that, however

Front 36

Reversion

Back 36

A future interest retained by the grantor and following an estate that will end naturally. Reversions follow fee tail estates, life estates, and terms of years.

Front 37

Possibility of Reverter

Back 37

A future interest retained by the grantor and following a determinable estate.

Front 38

Right of Entry

Back 38

A future interest retained by the grantor and following an estate subject to a condition subsequent.

Front 39

Define: Remainder

Back 39

A future interest given to a grantee and following an estate that will end naturally. Remainders follow fee tail estates, life estates, and terms of years.

Front 40

What is the difference between a remainder and a reversion?

Back 40

The difference is who holds it. A reversion interest is held by the original grantor. A remainder is held by a grantee

Front 41

Define: Vested Remainder

Back 41

A remainder that has an ascertained taker and no condition precedent.

Front 42

Define: Contingent Remainder

Back 42

A remainder that has one or both of the following characteristics (1) It is given to an unascertained person; and (2) It contains a condition precedent, that is, a condition (other than termination of the prior estate) that must be satisfied before the interest can become possessory.

Front 43

Define: Condition Precedent

Back 43

A condition (other than the termination of the prior estate) that must be fulfilled before a future interst-holder's right to eventual possession is assured. If a condition must be fulfilled before the remainder-holder can be assured of the right to possession upon the termination of the prior estate and if the condition is placed within the description of the remainder, the remainder is said to be contingent upon the fulfillment of the condition precedent.

Front 44

Define: Ascertained

Back 44

The holder of a future interest is ascertained if that person is born and identified.

Front 45

If nothing is specified, what is the alternative to a contingent remainder?

Back 45

A reversion

Front 46

Define: alternative contingent remainders

Back 46

A pair of remainders with opposite conditions precedent.

Front 47

Define: Executory Interest

Back 47

A future interest created in a grantee and following an estate that might end before its natural duration by the occurrence of a particular event or condition.

Front 48

Define: Subject to an Executory Limitation

Back 48

An estate is subject to an executory limitation if it is followed by an interest in a grantee and if it can be interrupted by the occurence of a particular event or condition not described directly as the measurement of the estate's duration. Rather the limiting even or condition is described as part of the following future interst interrupting the prior estate.

Front 49

Define: Subect to Divestment

Back 49

A vested remainder is subject to divestment when the divesting condition can occur before the remainder ever becomes possessory.

Front 50

Define: Subject to Open

Back 50

An estate is subject to open if it is given to a class of persons and if one or more of those persons is already ascertained as part of the class but others could be added.

Front 51

"O to A for life, then to B for life, then to C, but if C sells liquor on the property, then to D."
What are the interests?

Back 51

A: Possessory Estate in Life Estate
B: Vested Remainder in Life Estate
C: Vested Remainder in Fee Simple Subject to an Executory Limitation
D: Executory Interest in Fee Simple Absolute

Front 52

"O to A for life, then to B for life, then to C, but if B sells liquor on the property, then to D."
What are the intersts?

Back 52

A: Possessory Estate in Life Estate
B: Vested Remainder in Life Estate
C: Vested Remainder in Life Estate Subject to Divestment
D: Contingent Remainder in Fee Simple Absolute

Front 53

Define: Disentail

Back 53

To convert a fee tail estate into a fee simple estate. Also known as "barring an entail."

Front 54

Define: Merger

Back 54

A doctrine that combines a lesser vested estate into a larger vested estate when the two estates come into the hands of the same person and are not separated by another vested estate.

Front 55

Define: Alienable

Back 55

A property interest that can be conveyed to another person is alienable.

Front 56

Define: Destructibility of Contingent Remainders (doctrine of)

Back 56

A doctrine that provides that a contingent remainder is destroyed if it is still contingent when the prior estate ends.

Front 57

Define: Rule in Shelley's Case

Back 57

A doctrine that prohibited the conveyance of a future interest to the heirs of the grantee receiving the possessory estate. If the grantor attempted to convey a future interest to that grantee's heirs, the interest was read as in the grantee rather than in the grantee's heirs.

Front 58

Define: The Doctrine of Wothier Title

Back 58

A doctrine that creates a presumption that a grantor who conveys a future interst to his or her own heirs actually intended to reserve that interst in himself or herslf. Essentially turns "O's heirs" into "O" in a conveyance.

Front 59

Define: Inter Vivos Conveyance

Back 59

A conveyance made during the grantor's lifetime.

Front 60

What 3 estates are vulnerable to the Rule Against Perpetuities?

Back 60

Contingent Remainder, Vested Remainder Subject to Open, Executory Interests

Front 61

Define: Fertile Octogenarian

Back 61

Any person who is alive is considered capable of having more children (for the property law).

Front 62

Define: The Rule Against Perpetuities

Back 62

A future interst is void at the moment it's created it:
1. It is in a grantee (remainder or executory interest)
2. It is either contingent or subject to open
AND
3. It might still exist and still be contingent or subject to open longer than 21 years after the death of the last person alive at the time of the conveyance.

Front 63

Define: Life in Being

Back 63

The last person alive at the time of the conveyance.

Front 64

Define: Validating Life

Back 64

A person who proves that an interest will either vest and close or fail within the time period permitted by the Rule Against Perpetuities.