SAEE Property Rights and Legal Concepts 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes a 'defeasible fee' estate?
- A fee simple that can be defeated upon the occurrence of a specified condition (Correct answer)
- A life estate that reverts to the grantor upon death
- An easement that terminates after a fixed period
- A leasehold that converts to ownership after 30 years
Correct answer: A fee simple that can be defeated upon the occurrence of a specified condition
A defeasible fee is a fee simple ownership that automatically terminates or may be terminated if a stated condition occurs or is violated.
Question 2: Riparian rights govern a property owner's use of:
- Airspace above a navigable river
- Water from a stream bordering or crossing the property (Correct answer)
- Subsurface minerals beneath a waterway
- Public beach access along the coast
Correct answer: Water from a stream bordering or crossing the property
Riparian rights are common-law water rights belonging to owners of land adjacent to or through which a natural watercourse flows.
Question 3: A court rules that a neighbor has acquired an easement by prescription. For this to occur, the use must have been:
- Open, notorious, hostile, and continuous for the statutory period (Correct answer)
- Written, recorded, and acknowledged before a notary
- Permitted by the property owner at least once
- Continuous for at least 10 years in all US states
Correct answer: Open, notorious, hostile, and continuous for the statutory period
Prescriptive easements are established by open, notorious, hostile (without permission), and continuous use for the applicable statutory period.
Question 4: Under the concept of 'bundle of rights,' which right allows an owner to sell, gift, or bequeath property?
- The right of possession
- The right of control
- The right of disposition (Correct answer)
- The right of exclusion
Correct answer: The right of disposition
The right of disposition gives the owner the ability to transfer ownership through sale, gift, or inheritance.
Question 5: A lien that attaches to all real property owned by a debtor in a county is called a:
- Specific lien
- General lien (Correct answer)
- Mechanic's lien
- Vendor's lien
Correct answer: General lien
A general lien, such as a judgment lien, attaches to all real property owned by the debtor within the jurisdiction, unlike specific liens tied to a particular property.
Question 6: Which form of co-ownership requires all owners to have equal shares acquired at the same time, through the same instrument, with identical rights of possession?
- Tenancy in common
- Tenancy by the entirety
- Joint tenancy (Correct answer)
- Community property
Correct answer: Joint tenancy
Joint tenancy requires the four unities: time, title, interest, and possession, and includes the right of survivorship.
Question 7: A property is taken by the government for public use and the owner receives just compensation. This exercise of government power is called:
- Escheat
- Police power
- Eminent domain (Correct answer)
- Taxation
Correct answer: Eminent domain
Eminent domain is the constitutional power of government to take private property for public use upon payment of just compensation to the owner.
SAEE Property Rights and Legal Concepts 5
Which of the following best describes a 'defeasible fee' estate?