Exam Tip: Take Advantage of the Blog Posts

 

As I have said before, I am not a big fan of outlines. I think outlines are overly simplistic and don't provide what you really need to know to prepare for a law school exam. I have never written an outline in my life!

I am a big fan of good notes, notes that are based upon our class discussions. So, I really encourage you to take good notes, and to copy and paste helpful excerpts from the blog posts. In the old days, those blog posts were just rough notes that I used to discuss in class. Some people were able to take good notes on our discussions and hypos; but some were not able to do so. It is difficult to listen and write at the same time. So, I wrote my notes up into what I hope are lucid blog posts, and everyone gets equal access to what I am trying to teach. One good study habit is to transcribe your notes soon after the class in which you took them (while still fresh in your mind). And consolidate your notes with helpful excerpts from the blog posts. 

If I were taking the exam in my course, I would take advantage of the blog. That is the first place to go when you are trying to master a case, an issue, a doctrine, or a particular estate or future interest that we have studied in this course.

Friday October 29: Assignment

For tomorrow, please read assignment 14:

 14. Casebook p. 355-370; Handout 6; Hornbook P. 97-113 (Sections 3.17 to 3.22)

Don't spend too much time on the Shaver case (p. 361). It raises issues about options to renew leases which we will not be getting into. We will not cover this case in class nor will I hold you responsible for it.
The only thing to notice about this case is FN 24 on page 363 which quotes the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities.

Schedule: Pre-Made-Up Days

 Let's use 2 of our pre-made-up days to cancel these two Friday classes:

1. November 5

2. November 12 

You can go home and visit your family for a nice long weekend!

Executive Summary: The Doctrine of Worthier Title

 The doctrine of worthier title, when applied to an inter vivos conveyance of property, prefers a construction of language that would otherwise create a contingent remainder in the grantor's heirs as the retention of a reversion by the Grantor.

Thus, Grutz conveys "to B for life, then to the Grantor's heirs."

What is the state of the title without the rule?

B--life estate
G's heirs--contingent remainder

With the rule?

B--life estate
G--reversion
G's heirs--nothing

Suppose G conveys his reversion to me? What do G's heirs get on his death? Nothing: I own G's reversion in Fee Simple Absolute.

Notice it is a rule of construction not a rule of law. Thus, if the Grutz conveys “to A for life, remainder to my heirs in Fee Simple Absolute,” the rule should not apply and Grutz’s heirs should take a contingent remainder.

Nebraska Law: Inter Vivos Branch of Doctrine Of Worthier Title

76-115. Inter vivos conveyance to the heirs or next of kin of the conveyor; effect.

When any property is limited, in an otherwise effective conveyance inter vivos, in form or in effect, to the heirs or next of kin of the conveyor, which conveyance creates one or more prior interests in favor of a person or persons in existence, such conveyance operates in favor of such heirs or next of kin by purchase and not by descent.

Suppose Grutz conveys "To Denicola for life, then to my [i.e. Grutz's] heirs"

What is the state of the title under this statute?

Under the Doctrine of Worthier Title?

Intersting Article Today in NYT

 Today's Times has an article by Thomas Edsall about differences between Liberals and Conservatives that strikes me as relating quite a bit to issues of property and wealth issues. Here is the link:

 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/opinion/conservatives-liberals-happiness.html

 And here are some interesting passages that relate to property and equity issues:

 

Liberals, Schlenker and his co-authors agree,

have become less happy over the last several decades, but this decline is associated with increasingly secular attitudes and actions (e.g., less religiosity, less likelihood of being married, and perhaps lessened belief in personal agency).

They go on:

Conservatives generally score higher on internal control as well as the Protestant Work Ethic, which emphasizes the inherent meaningfulness and value of work and the strong linkage between one’s efforts and outcomes, and is positively associated with achievement. Liberals, on the other hand, are more likely to see outcomes as due to factors beyond one’s personal control, including luck and properties of the social system.

These differences have consequences:

Perceptions of internal control, self-efficacy, and the engagement in meaningful work are strongly related to life satisfaction. These differences in personal agency could, in and of themselves, explain much of the happiness gap.

So too, in their view, does the liberal inclination to view morality in relative, as opposed to absolutist, terms, have consequences:

A relativist moral code more readily permits people to excuse or justify failures to do the ‘‘right’’ thing. When moral codes lack clarity and promote flexibility, people may come to feel a sense of normlessness — a lack of purpose in life — and alienation. Further, if people believe there are acceptable excuses and justifications for morally questionable acts, they are more likely to engage in those acts, which in turn can create problems and unhappiness.

Perhaps most significant, Schlenker, Chambers and Le found that while both liberals and conservatives place a high value on fairness, they have diverging definitions of the concept:

Liberals define fairness more in terms of equality (equal outcomes regardless of contributions) and turn to government as the vehicle for enforcing social justice and helping those in need. Conservatives define fairness more in terms of equity (outcomes should be proportional to contributions), rely on free markets to distribute outcomes, and prefer individuals and private organizations, not government, to contribute to the care and protection of those in need.

 

A few things to think about when we get tired of mastering remainders.

Class Schedule: Cancellations

 As we have discussed, we have an extra 9 scheduled class hours that need to be canceled. Here are some dates I already know about for cancelled classes:

1. Wednesday October 13 (I am speaking at BYU Law on Tuesday and taking a red-eye home)

2. Thursday October 14 (by class vote)

3. Friday October 15 (I am speaking at the Nebraska Bar Annual Meeting)

4. My current plan is to cancel the last week of class to give you additional time to get ready for exams)

 

Have a great Fall Break from Property next week.

Estates and Future Interests

Some of you are looking for an additional reference for estates and future interests. Perhaps the best book on estates is:

Sheldon F. Kurtz, Moynihan's Introduction to the Law of Real Property (5th ed. 2011).

This should be available in the library at the Reserve desk.

By the way, the subject of the picture immediately above is Blackacre of Hickman, my all-time favorite estate in Fee Simple Absolute.