Black-letter propositions
- 01
A remainder follows natural termination and can be indefeasibly vested, vested subject to open, vested subject to divestment, or contingent.
- 02
An executory interest cuts short another estate or follows a gap; grantor interests are reversion, possibility of reverter, and power of termination.
- 03
A contingent remainder has an unascertained taker or condition precedent.
- 04
Common-law RAP invalidates a contingent remainder, executory interest, or certain class gift unless it must vest or fail within a life in being plus 21 years.
- 05
Vested interests, grantor interests, and many charity-to-charity shifts are outside common-law RAP.
Use this attack sequence under time
Frame the issue
Write the full timeline.
Resolve the next checkpoint
Classify every interest.
Resolve the next checkpoint
Separate precedent conditions from later divestment.
Resolve the next checkpoint
For RAP, identify covered interest and validating life.
Finish the conclusion
Check statutory reform if supplied.
Common wrong turns
- Probability is irrelevant under common-law RAP.
- The unborn widow is not a measuring life at creation.
- One remote class member can invalidate a class gift under all-or-nothing treatment.
Worked example
O conveys 'to A for life, then to A's first grandchild to reach 30,' when A has no grandchildren.
A child could be born later and have a child who reaches 30 too remotely; common-law RAP invalidates the contingent remainder.
Practice this topic
Future interests
Cornell says a future interest is the right to possess property in the future, in contrast to a present possessory estate. A remainder is a future interest in a transferee that can take effect at the natural end of a prior estate created by the same instrument, such as a life tenant's death. A vested remainder is held by a specified individual and subject only to the expiration of preceding interests, and a contingent remainder is one where the holder has not been identified or a prior condition must be met. A reversion gives title back to the grantor or the grantor's descendants.
An executory interest is a future interest in a transferee that must either divest the prior estate or spring out of the grantor. It is non-vested and subject to the Rule Against Perpetuities, and the two types are shifting and springing.
The Rule Against Perpetuities
Cornell states the common law rule as: an interest in real property is not good if it does not vest within 21 years of a life in being at the creation of the interest. An interest violates the rule if there is even a remote possibility that no life in being would acquire the interest in time. Many jurisdictions have modified the rule and some have abolished it.
To apply the rule, find the measuring lives at creation, identify the interest that is not yet vested, and ask whether it must vest or fail within the period.
Frequently asked questions
What is the controlling rule for remainders, executory interests, reversions, and rap?+
Future-interest analysis requires exact classification before asking whether a covered interest must vest or fail within the perpetuities period.
How should I analyze remainders, executory interests, reversions, and rap on the bar exam?+
Write the full timeline. Classify every interest. Separate precedent conditions from later divestment. Check statutory reform if supplied.
What is a remainder?+
A future interest in a transferee that takes effect at the natural end of a prior estate created by the same instrument.
What is the difference between vested and contingent remainders?+
A vested remainder is owned by a specified individual subject only to the expiration of preceding interests, while a contingent remainder has an unidentified holder or an unmet condition.
What is a reversion?+
A future interest that returns title to the grantor or the grantor's descendants when the prior estate ends.
What are the two types of executory interests?+
Shifting, which divests a prior transferee, and springing, which divests the transferor in the future, according to Cornell.
What is the common law Rule Against Perpetuities?+
An interest is not good if it does not vest within 21 years of a life in being at the creation of the interest.