In her properly executed will, Leilani devised land “to my husband for life, remainder to my daughter’s children.” At the time of writing the will, Leilani had a husband (Harrison), a daughter (Deidre), and a son (Steven). When Leilani died and the will was duly admitted to probate, her will contained no residuary clause, and she was survived by Harrison, Deidre, Steven, and Deidre’s child. Harrison died intestate a few years later, survived by only Deidre and Steven, and their children. By the time Harrison died, Deidre had one more child. A year after Harrison’s death, Deidre had yet another child. Who now owns the land?

Delilah is a nature-lover and a traveler by hobby. Over the last two years, she has visited some of the most well-known national parks in the country, and has enjoyed collecting rare souvenir postcards from each park, which are only available by visiting the parks. Last year, Delilah lived in New York, and began her travels to national parks. She keeps all her postcards from parks she visited while living in New York in what she calls her “New York portfolio” which includes three postcards, from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, and Sequioa National Park in California. After she visited Sequioa National Park, which was her favorite, she moved to California, and started a new collection that she calls her “California portfolio” which includes three postcards from the parks she visited while living in California: Redwood National Park in California, Joshua Tree National Park in California, and Yosemite National Park in California. Delilah treasures her trips and memories, and keeps each portfolio in a separate box so she can relive her adventures in order. Patrick is starting up a travel agency business, but he has not travelled much himself. He is looking for ways to boost his business by showcasing souvenirs from different popular travel destinations. Patrick puts an advertisement in the local newspaper that says “Travel agency looking for souvenirs from popular destinations to be used as display props. Willing to pay good money.” Patrick includes his contact information in the advertisement. Delilah sees the ad in the newspaper and thinks she might have what Patrick needs. Delilah brings the postcards from both her New York portfolio and her California portfolio, combining them in one box for ease of transport, and shows them to Patrick at his office. She states that she is interested in allowing Patrick to use them as display props if it would help his business, but that she does not want to lose them as they are very precious to her. Patrick looks over the six postcards Delilah brought, and is excited. He particularly likes the postcards from Sequioa National Park and Redwood National Park, as they have beautiful trees that he thinks would be a huge draw. Patrick gets Delilah’s contact information and tells her he’ll be in touch. The next day, Patrick emails Delilah: “Thank you for bringing the postcards by. I would love to rent some of the postcards from you, so I can use them as props but you will still get them back.” Delilah emails back the same day: “That could work. Which postcards are you interested in?” Patrick responds by email: “How about just the California postcards? I’ll pay $50 a month for the next 18 months, that’s $900 total. At the end you get them all back in the same condition.” Delilah emails back immediately: “You’ve got yourself a deal.” The next day, Delilah brings the postcards from her California portfolio – Redwood, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite National Parks. Patrick is disappointed and asks why the Sequioa postcard is missing. Delilah explains that the Sequioa postcard is part of the New York portfolio, because she obtained it while she was living in New York. Patrick states that he wanted the postcards from all the parks in California, and assumed that would include Sequioa National Park. Delilah states she never agreed to give up Sequioa, her favorite, and walks out with all her postcards. Patrick is stunned and asks his lawyer for advice. Does he have a contract with Delilah? If so, which postcards are included? Do not discuss any potential remedies Patrick may have against Delilah.

Gigi conveyed a tract of land to her two friends, Sam and Silas, “as joint tenants with the right of survivorship.” Sam and Silas were not related. Sam conveyed all of his interest to his daughter, Donna, and Sam subsequently died intestate. Then Silas conveyed to his grandson, Gerry. Who holds title to the land?

Sally placed a rare ceramic figurine in her purse. She intended to have the figurine appraised by an art dealer before selling it. Before going to the art dealer’s shop, however, she was scheduled to meet her friends at the park for a picnic. She took the purse with her to the park. When she arrived, she found all her friends playing soccer, except Susan. Sally asked Susan to hold her purse while she joined the game. Susan replied, “Leave your purse here on the blanket. I’ll keep an eye on it.” Sally then put the purse down and played soccer with her friends. Which of the following correctly states Susan’s legal relationship with Sally concerning the purse and the figurine?

Miles owned a tract of land in fee simple. Fifteen years ago, Miles built a barn on five acres that he believed were part of his property. One year later, Miles discovered that the five acres on which he had built his barn were not part of his property. The five acres actually belonged to Blake, who owned the adjoining property. The year following the discovery that the five acres belonged to Blake next door, Blake died, leaving all of her property to her one-year-old daughter, Ines. Miles has brought a quiet title action against the now fourteen-year-old Ines. The statutory period for adverse possession in this jurisdiction is ten years. Miles has not paid any additional property taxes to account for the five acres for any of the past fifteen years. Who will prevail?

Grant executed a valid deed conveying a tract of land to Beach City “for the purpose of constructing a planetarium thereon.” Beach City held the property for a number of years, but decided on another site for the planetarium. When presented with an offer to purchase the property by a privately owned garbage collection company, Beach City accepted and conveyed the land to the company. Which of the following statements about the title of the tract of land is true?

Lucie entered into a written four-year lease with Trina for an apartment in Lucie’s apartment house. Trina’s lease, and all leases in the apartment house, prohibited the playing of musical instruments between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. The lease required Trina to pay the rent on a monthly basis. Two years into the lease, Trina assigned the lease to Nancy with Lucie’s permission. Nancy then assigned the lease to her brother, Bruce, with Lucie’s permission. Bruce went into possession. A neighboring tenant in the same apartment house insisted upon playing a trumpet in a loud manner between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Bruce complained to Lucie without success. Unable to sleep each night, Bruce abandoned his apartment after occupying it for two months. If Lucie sues Nancy for the rent due during the period after Bruce left, what would be Nancy’s best defense?

Adam owned a tract of land in fee simple. He conveyed it “to my daughter, Cindy, her heirs and assigns, but if my son, Sam, shall be living thirty years from the date of this deed, then to Sam, his heirs and assigns.” The limitation “to Sam, his heirs and assigns” is

Monica conveyed a sixty-acre parcel of land to Emma. A private gravel road ran through the center of the parcel. The southern half consisted of arable land, which Monica, and later Emma, used for farming. The northern half was undeveloped woodland. Emma never used the northern half for timbering or for anything else. On very rare occasions, Emma would take a walk in the woods, but outside of those occasions, she never set foot on the northern half.Fifteen years after Monica conveyed the parcel to Emma, Tom appeared, claiming ownership of the northern half of the parcel. Unbeknownst to either Monica or Emma, Tom’s name had been forged on the deed purporting to convey the parcel to Monica, and Tom was, in fact, the true owner of the property at that time. The state in which the parcel is located has a ten-year statutory adverse possession period. Tom admits that Emma now has title to the southern half of the parcel by adverse possession. In an action to quiet title, who will prevail as to the northern half of the parcel?

Three years before his death, Leo leased his land to Oil X. The lease gave Oil X the right to drill for oil and gas for a period of 25 years and provided for the payment of a royalty for oil and gas removed. While Leo was alive, no oil or gas was discovered. Upon Leo’s death, he devised the land to his son, Stu, for life, remainder to his grandson, George. The residue of his estate was left to his widow. The year after Leo died, oil was discovered on the land, and royalties became due. To whom should the royalties be paid?