Property Law Flashcards

O conveys "to A for life, then to A's children who reach age 25." A has one child, age 3, at the conveyance. Under the common-law Rule Against Perpetuities, what happens to the children's interest?

Answer: It is void, because a child could reach 25 more than 21 years after all lives in being end

An afterborn child of A could satisfy the age-25 condition more than 21 years after the deaths of A and the living child, violating the Rule.

A buyer discovers after closing that the seller knew the basement flooded every spring but said nothing. Under modern law applied in Ohio, what is the buyer's best claim?

Answer: Fraudulent concealment or nondisclosure of a known latent material defect

A seller who knows of a latent material defect not discoverable by reasonable inspection may be liable for fraudulent nondisclosure despite caveat emptor.

A grantor hands a signed deed to his attorney with instructions to deliver it to his daughter "when I die," reserving the right to demand it back. What is the effect at the grantor's death?

Answer: No valid delivery occurred, so the deed conveys nothing

Because the grantor retained control and the power to recall the deed, there was no present intent to convey and thus no valid delivery.

A shopping center lease bars the landlord from leasing other units to competing pizza shops. The landlord sells the center, and the new owner leases to a rival pizzeria. Can the original tenant enforce the restriction against the new owner?

Answer: Yes, if the covenant touches and concerns the land and the new owner had notice

A covenant that touches and concerns the leased premises binds a successor landlord who takes with notice under running-covenant or equitable-servitude principles.

Two adjacent Ohio landowners share a driveway easement created by an unrecorded written agreement. One sells to a purchaser who sees the shared paved driveway during inspection. Is the purchaser bound?

Answer: Yes, because the visible use put her on inquiry notice

Open and visible use of a servitude places a purchaser on inquiry notice, defeating bona fide purchaser status even without recording.

A landowner excavates near the boundary line, and the neighbor's land — in its natural state — subsides. What is the excavating owner's liability for the subsidence?

Answer: Strictly liable, because the right to lateral support of land in its natural state is absolute

A landowner is strictly liable for withdrawing lateral support that causes naturally-conditioned neighboring land to subside.

A wife dies owning Ohio real estate titled solely in her name, leaving a surviving husband and a will devising everything to her sister. What protection does the husband have?

Answer: He may elect against the will and take a statutory share of the estate

Ohio gives a surviving spouse the right to elect against the will and take a statutory share, and modern dower provides only a limited life interest in certain circumstances.