Notice it says "in YOUR answer." This is a Homework HELP Forum. After you DO the work, we will be glad to help.
Sra
Goldfarb owns a 500 acre tract of land known as Blackacre. He executes a deed conveying Blackacre with the following language, “To March for life, then to Hunt.” March is excited to receive Blackacre, but soon executes a deed to the property with the following language, “To Laverne and Shirley, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship.” March then dies. Hunt, believing he now owns Blackacre, executes a deed with the following language, “To Larry, Moe and Curly, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship.” Laverne and Shirley are not aware of Hunt’s deed and execute their own deed to Blackacre with the following language, “to the Valley Victory Church, so long as the property is used for church purposes.” Laverne and Shirley both die in an automobile accident, each leaving one son (Lenny and Squiggy). Then, Larry dies, leaving his son, Ralph, as his heir. Ralph gets a loan from First State Bank and gives the bank a mortgage to Blackacre. Moe then transfers his interest in Blackacre to his nephew, Potsy. Valley Victory Church, which did use Blackacre for a summer church camp, decides to sell the property to Wal-Mart so it can build a new store on the property. Valley Victory Church gives Wal-Mart a deed to Blackacre. At the same time, Ralph defaults on his loan to First State Bank and they start a foreclosure proceeding. Not knowing any of the facts above, Curly transfers his interest in Blackacre to his favorite kids from the neighborhood, Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Michael and Jermaine. Who owns Blackacre?
In your answer, analyze when (and whether) each of the parties (March, Hunt, Laverne, Shirley, Lenny, Squiggy, Valley Victory Church, Wal-Mart, Larry, Moe, Curly, Ralph, First State Bank, Potsy, Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Michael and Jermaine) took ownership in Blackacre, how much of an interest each owns, if any, and why.
3 answers
Hunt
Hunt initially received Blackacre from Goldfarb but was later conveyed to others. Hunt's deed from Goldfarb stated, "To March for life, then to Hunt." The phrase "to March for life" is an example of a life estate, which means March has the right to possess and use Blackacre during his lifetime. After March's death, Hunt takes ownership of Blackacre.
Hunt later executes a deed to Blackacre with the following language, "To Larry, Moe, and Curly, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship." This means that Larry, Moe, and Curly have equal ownership interests in Blackacre and, upon the death of one joint tenant, the surviving joint tenants will inherit the deceased tenant's interest.
Moe later transfers his interest in Blackacre to his nephew, Potsy. This means that Potsy now owns Moe's share of the property and is now a joint tenant with Larry and Curly.
Curly later transfers his interest to Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Michael, and Jermaine. It is unclear whether this transfer is valid since Curly no longer had an ownership interest in Blackacre to transfer after he conveyed it to Larry, Moe, and Curly.
Meanwhile, Laverne and Shirley received a deed from March with the language "To Laverne and Shirley, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship." This means that Laverne and Shirley had equal ownership of Blackacre, and upon the death of one joint tenant, the surviving joint tenant would inherit the deceased tenant's interest.
Laverne and Shirley later executed a deed to Blackacre with the language "to the Valley Victory Church, so long as the property is used for church purposes." This means that the Valley Victory Church had ownership of Blackacre as long as it used the property for church purposes.
Laverne and Shirley both died in an automobile accident, leaving one son each, Lenny and Squiggy, as their respective heirs.
Larry, one of the joint tenants, later died, leaving his son, Ralph, as his heir. Ralph then got a loan from First State Bank and gave the bank a mortgage on Blackacre.
Valley Victory Church later decides to sell Blackacre to Wal-Mart and gives Wal-Mart a deed to the property.
Finally, Ralph defaults on his loan to First State Bank, and the bank starts a foreclosure proceeding.
In summary, the current owners of Blackacre are: Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Michael, and Jermaine, who may or may not have a valid ownership interest; Potsy, Larry's nephew, who owns an interest as a joint tenant with Curly and, potentially, Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Michael, and Jermaine; Valley Victory Church until they sold it to Wal-Mart; and now, Wal-Mart, who owns the property after purchasing it from Valley Victory Church.
Hunt later executes a deed to Blackacre with the following language, "To Larry, Moe, and Curly, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship." This means that Larry, Moe, and Curly have equal ownership interests in Blackacre and, upon the death of one joint tenant, the surviving joint tenants will inherit the deceased tenant's interest.
Moe later transfers his interest in Blackacre to his nephew, Potsy. This means that Potsy now owns Moe's share of the property and is now a joint tenant with Larry and Curly.
Curly later transfers his interest to Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Michael, and Jermaine. It is unclear whether this transfer is valid since Curly no longer had an ownership interest in Blackacre to transfer after he conveyed it to Larry, Moe, and Curly.
Meanwhile, Laverne and Shirley received a deed from March with the language "To Laverne and Shirley, as joint tenants with the right of survivorship." This means that Laverne and Shirley had equal ownership of Blackacre, and upon the death of one joint tenant, the surviving joint tenant would inherit the deceased tenant's interest.
Laverne and Shirley later executed a deed to Blackacre with the language "to the Valley Victory Church, so long as the property is used for church purposes." This means that the Valley Victory Church had ownership of Blackacre as long as it used the property for church purposes.
Laverne and Shirley both died in an automobile accident, leaving one son each, Lenny and Squiggy, as their respective heirs.
Larry, one of the joint tenants, later died, leaving his son, Ralph, as his heir. Ralph then got a loan from First State Bank and gave the bank a mortgage on Blackacre.
Valley Victory Church later decides to sell Blackacre to Wal-Mart and gives Wal-Mart a deed to the property.
Finally, Ralph defaults on his loan to First State Bank, and the bank starts a foreclosure proceeding.
In summary, the current owners of Blackacre are: Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Michael, and Jermaine, who may or may not have a valid ownership interest; Potsy, Larry's nephew, who owns an interest as a joint tenant with Curly and, potentially, Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Michael, and Jermaine; Valley Victory Church until they sold it to Wal-Mart; and now, Wal-Mart, who owns the property after purchasing it from Valley Victory Church.
3 answers