General Real Property Law: Estates in Land Flashcards

General Real Property Law: Estates in Land Flashcards

Doctrine of prior appropriationEach state has strict laws that govern the ownership and use of water as well as the adjacent land. The laws vary among the states, depending upon how arid the state is.Where water is plentiful, for instance, many states rely on the simple parameters set by the common-law doctrines of riparian and littoral rights. Where water is more scarce, a state may control all but limited domestic use of water according to thedoctrine of prior appropriation Special LimitationFee Simple Determinable The estate ends automatically on the current owner's failure to comply with the limitation. If the limitation is violated, the former owner (or his or her heirs or successors) reacquires full ownership.A fee simple subject to a special limitation is also called afee simple determinablebecause it may end automatically. The language used to distinguish a special limitation-the words so long as or while or during-is the key to creating this

estateFor example:A grant of land from an owner to her

church"so long as the land is used only for religious purposes"is a fee simple with a special limitation. The church has the full bundle of rights possessed by a property owner, but one of the "sticks" in the bundle-the "control" stick, in this case-has a string attached. If the church ever decides to use the land for a nonreligious purpose, the original owner will, in effect, "yank the string" and title will revert to her (or to her heirs or successors).Littoral RightsClosely related to riparian rights are the littoral rights of owners whose land borders commercially navigable lakes, seas and oceans. Owners with littoral rights enjoy unrestricted use of available waters, but own the land adjacent to the water only up to the mean (average) high-water mark. All land below this point is owned by the government.Riparian and littoral rights are appurtenant (attached) to the land and cannot be retained when the property is sold. Any rights to use the water belong to whoever owns the bordering land and cannot be retained by a former owner after the land is sold.RelictionReliction occurs when a waterway changes course. One owner gains and another loses land. It is usually caused by flash flooding when an object such as an uprooted tree blocks waterflow and causes a river to breach it banks and seek another course. This has occurred on occasion in

northern Missouri and farmers were in jeopardy of losing hundreds of acres of land. In such a situation, it is not uncommon for the state to intervene and remove the blockage so that the waterway can resume its normal course.legal life estateis not created voluntarily by an owner. Rather, it is a form of life estate established by state law. It becomes effective automatically when certain events occur. Dower, curtesy and homestead are the legal life estates currently used in

some states. (We do not have dower and curtesy in Missouri).AccretionWhen erosion or avulsion occur, the soil that is washed away doesn't simply disappear, but is washed up down stream somewhere. The owners of land downstream may

benefit from erosion or avulsion by gaining land through the washing up of those soil deposits. The process of gaining land through the washing up of soil deposits is called accretion.The soil deposits themselves are referred to asalluvionoralluvium.Fee Simple Defeasible (or Defeasible Fee) A conditional estate-that is, its existence is conditioned upon the occurrence or nonoccurrence of some specified