KY Bar Property Law 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A grantor conveys land "to A for life, then to B and her heirs." What interest does B hold during A's lifetime?
- A vested remainder in fee simple (Correct answer)
- A contingent remainder
- An executory interest
- A reversion
Correct answer: A vested remainder in fee simple
B is an ascertained person with no condition precedent, so B holds a vested remainder in fee simple absolute.
Question 2: In Kentucky, what is the statutory period required to establish title by adverse possession of real property?
- 15 years (Correct answer)
- 7 years
- 10 years
- 20 years
Correct answer: 15 years
Kentucky requires 15 years of open, notorious, hostile, exclusive, and continuous possession under KRS 413.010.
Question 3: A landowner sells the back half of his parcel, which has no road access except across the retained front half. No easement is mentioned in the deed. What easement most likely arises?
- An easement by necessity (Correct answer)
- An easement by prescription
- An express easement
- A negative easement
Correct answer: An easement by necessity
Severance of a commonly owned parcel that landlocks one portion creates an easement by necessity over the retained land.
Question 4: A tenant with a one-year lease remains in possession after the term ends and the landlord accepts the next month's rent. What tenancy is created in most jurisdictions?
- A periodic tenancy (Correct answer)
- A tenancy at will
- A tenancy at sufferance
- A new one-year term for years
Correct answer: A periodic tenancy
Acceptance of rent from a holdover tenant generally converts the tenancy at sufferance into a periodic tenancy measured by the rent payment.
Question 5: Which deed covenant is breached, if at all, only when the grantee is actually or constructively evicted by someone with paramount title?
- The covenant of quiet enjoyment (Correct answer)
- The covenant of seisin
- The covenant of the right to convey
- The covenant against encumbrances
Correct answer: The covenant of quiet enjoyment
Quiet enjoyment and warranty are future covenants breached only upon eviction or disturbance by superior title.
Question 6: O conveys Blackacre to A, who does not record. O then conveys Blackacre to B, a bona fide purchaser who records. Kentucky follows a race-notice recording regime for most purposes. Who prevails?
- B, because B took without notice and recorded first (Correct answer)
- A, because A's deed was first in time
- A, because recording is optional in Kentucky
- B, only if B also took possession
Correct answer: B, because B took without notice and recorded first
Under a race-notice statute, a subsequent bona fide purchaser who records first prevails over a prior unrecorded conveyance.
Question 7: Two siblings hold land as joint tenants with right of survivorship. One sibling secretly conveys her interest to a friend. What is the state of title after the conveyance?
- The friend and the remaining sibling hold as tenants in common (Correct answer)
- The friend and the sibling hold as joint tenants
- The conveyance is void without the co-tenant's consent
- The friend holds a life estate measured by the grantor's life
Correct answer: The friend and the remaining sibling hold as tenants in common
An inter vivos conveyance by one joint tenant severs the joint tenancy, leaving the grantee and the other co-tenant as tenants in common.
KY Bar Property Law 2
A grantor conveys land "to A for life, then to B and her heirs." What interest does B hold during A's lifetime?