Estates & future interests

Discovery rule tolls statute of limitations for enforcing a right of first refusal

The Texas Supreme Court held that the owner of a right of first refusal was not too late in asserting it because the statute of limitations did not start running until the owner knew or reasonably could have known that the right had been triggered. ...

Possibility of reverter or right of entry cut off after 30 years

Massachusetts law sets a thirty year limit to possibilities of reverter following a fee simple determinable or rights of entry following a free simple subject to condition subsequent. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 184A, §7. This contrasts with the 90 year limit for executory interests. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 190B, § 2-901. The 30 year limitation was recently applied in ... Read more about Possibility of reverter or right of entry cut off after 30 years

Forged deeds cannot convey title

In a case involving a claim for a prescriptive easement, the Massachusetts Land Court has affirmed an old rule of law that denies a forged deed any validity whatsoever. Braxton v. City of Boston, 26 LCR 119, 2018 Mass. LCR LEXIS 30 (Mass. Land Ct. 2018). The court also noted that it was a crime to write and record a forged deed. Read more about Forged deeds cannot convey title

Permanent rights of refusal for tenancy in common interests owned by family members held void as unreasonable restraints on alienation

A Massachusetts court has held that permanent rights of refusal applying to tenancy-in-common interests were void as unreasonable restraints on alienation. DiSchino v. Delanson Circle Holding, 2018 Mass. Super. LEXIS 67 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2018).

The court noted that the state had a...

Is it an unconstitutional taking of property without just compensation to require sex offenders to move away from their home if a school, playground, or daycare center is established near their home after their initial occupation?

In Mann v. Georgia Department of Corrections,653 S.E.2d 740 (Ga. 2007), the Georgia Supreme Court held that a state statute prohibiting registered sex offenders from living or working within 1,000 feet of any facility where minors congregate, see Ga. Code Åò42-1-15, constituted a taking of property as applied to a sex offender who...

While real property held as tenancy by the entirety cannot be conveyed absent consent of both spouses, funds held in a bank account can be withdrawn by either spouse and, upon withdrawal, cease to be entireties property

The Supreme Court of Tennessee overruled prior cases and adopted the Arkansas approach that allows spouses that own bank account as tenants by the entirety are free to withdraw funds unilaterally (without consent of their co-owner) and that moneys so withdraw become the individual property of the spouse that withdrew the funds. This contrasts with real property which neither spouse may convey without the consent of the other....

Can an owner or inhabitant of real property give police the right to search property when a co-owner or coinhabitant objects?

The Appeals Court of Massachusetts held that the police could search a closed suitcase in a common closet of a bedroom when given permission to do so by the defendant's coinhabitant. Commonwealth v. Hernandez,93 Mass. App. Ct. 172, 2018 Mass. App. LEXIS 48 (Mass. App. Ct. 2018). This ruling was based on traditional...

Defeasible easements are enforceable if clearly created

In Majestic Oaks Homeowners Ass’n v. Majestic Oaks Farms, Inc., 530 S.2d 3 435 (Ky. 2017), covenants for a residential subdivision creates easements that were subject to abolition by a supermajority vote of the homeowners. The Kentucky Supreme Court saw no reason not to allow easements to be made...

Will leaving land to surviving heirs of the decedent's child creates a life estate in the child with remainder in the heirs

The Georgia Supreme Court has interpreted a will leaving land to the "surviving heir or heirs" of the decedent's child as creating a life estate in the child with a contingent remainder in the child's heirs. Anderson v. Anderson, 791 S.E. 2d 40 (Ga. 2016) Read more about Will leaving land to surviving heirs of the decedent's child creates a life estate in the child with remainder in the heirs

Retroactive restraints on leasing in homeowners associations

The courts continue to divide over the question of whether it is fair to allow homeowners associations to impose retroactive restraints on leasing on existing owners who purchased with no notice of the restriction. While most states allow this, a few do not, and the Restatement (Third) of Property (Servitudes) §6.10(2), §6.10 cmt. g, takes the position that such major changes in property rights can only be accomplished prospectively unless there is a unanimous vote to alter those rights.

The Idaho Supreme Court recently adopted what appears to be the majority...

Joseph William Singer

Bussey Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Estates & future interests

Discovery rule tolls statute of limitations for enforcing a right of first refusal

Possibility of reverter or right of entry cut off after 30 years

Forged deeds cannot convey title

Permanent rights of refusal for tenancy in common interests owned by family members held void as unreasonable restraints on alienation

Is it an unconstitutional taking of property without just compensation to require sex offenders to move away from their home if a school, playground, or daycare center is established near their home after their initial occupation?

While real property held as tenancy by the entirety cannot be conveyed absent consent of both spouses, funds held in a bank account can be withdrawn by either spouse and, upon withdrawal, cease to be entireties property

Can an owner or inhabitant of real property give police the right to search property when a co-owner or coinhabitant objects?

Defeasible easements are enforceable if clearly created

Will leaving land to surviving heirs of the decedent's child creates a life estate in the child with remainder in the heirs

Retroactive restraints on leasing in homeowners associations

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Estates & future interests

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