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Articles 271 - 300 of 323

Full-Text Articles in Common Law

Dispositions Of Property To Unincorporated Non-Profit Associations, Harold A.J. Ford Nov 1956

Dispositions Of Property To Unincorporated Non-Profit Associations, Harold A.J. Ford

Michigan Law Review

The aim of this article is to examine the ways in which courts in common law countries have given this assistance and the problems they have encountered in regard to property transactions.


The Wills Branch Of The Worthier Title Doctrine, Joseph W. Morris Feb 1956

The Wills Branch Of The Worthier Title Doctrine, Joseph W. Morris

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this article to examine the history and origin of the wills branch of the worthier title doctrine, to ascertain the extent of its application and the manner of its application, to determine the legal consequences flowing therefrom, and to consider the desirability of its continued existence.


Real Property - Elimination Of The Straw Man In The Creation Of Joint Estates In Michigan, Edward H. Hoenicke S.Ed. Nov 1955

Real Property - Elimination Of The Straw Man In The Creation Of Joint Estates In Michigan, Edward H. Hoenicke S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

That joint ownership is a popular form of holding title to real property is undeniable. A husband and wife are especially likely to consider this form of ownership as "natural" and desirable because it emphasizes the concept of marriage as a partnership and gives both partners control over and ownership in the family property. In addition to these factors, joint ownership is popular because of the right of survivorship which is incident to it. In this feature the layman sees, or thinks he sees, the opportunity to avoid a probate proceeding, the estate tax, and the lawyer's fee. It is …


Perpetuities And Other Restraints: A Study Of The Michigan Statutes And Decisions Relating To Perpetuities And Other Devices Which Fetter The Alienability Of Property, Against The Background Of The Laws Of England And Other American Jurisdictions, William F. Frachter Jan 1954

Perpetuities And Other Restraints: A Study Of The Michigan Statutes And Decisions Relating To Perpetuities And Other Devices Which Fetter The Alienability Of Property, Against The Background Of The Laws Of England And Other American Jurisdictions, William F. Frachter

Michigan Legal Studies Series

The central theme of this study comprises the judicial and legislative rules developed to restrict attempts by men of property to endow their families in perpetuity, usually with land, in such manner that each successive living generation can neither part with the property nor prevent unborn generations from succeeding to it. Part One deals with attempts to accomplish this object by bestowing the whole title on each living generation but denying each such generation the power to dispose of the property or to prevent its· descent to the next generation. In this part the principal restrictive rules are judicial, the …


Is The Rule Against Perpetuities Doomed?, Lewis M. Simes Dec 1953

Is The Rule Against Perpetuities Doomed?, Lewis M. Simes

Michigan Law Review

Few rules of the common law have shown such amazing vitality as the rule against perpetuities. Emerging in the Duke of Norfolk's Case in 1682, as a rule to restrict unbarrable entails in land, it is now applied, not only to interests in land, legal and equitable, but also to personal estate, tangible and intangible, including beneficial interests in trusts. It is regarded as a part of the common law of nearly every English speaking country, except a few of the United States where statutory substitutes have been provided. Since 1930, statutory substitutes have been abolished and there has been …


Treaties Governing The Succession To Real Property By Aliens, Willard L. Boyd, Jr. May 1953

Treaties Governing The Succession To Real Property By Aliens, Willard L. Boyd, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Under customary international law no nation has the duty to grant to aliens the right to hold real property. Although international law accords to an alien the privilege of participating in the economic life of the state of his residence, this privilege does not encompass the right to hold real property. The right to succeed to and hold real property is a matter solely within the competence of a nation. It is for each nation exclusively to regulate the acquisition and tenure of real property. National authority in this regard can be traced to the concept that the sovereign may …


Restraints On Alienation Of Equitable Interests In Michigan Property, William F. Fratcher Feb 1953

Restraints On Alienation Of Equitable Interests In Michigan Property, William F. Fratcher

Michigan Law Review

In the Middle Ages a conveyance of land to a monastic corporation resulted in a serious loss of income to the feudal overlord. As such corporations never died, the overlord ceased to receive the reliefs payable on the death of a tenant and to enjoy the feudal incidents of wardship and marriage of minor heirs. Monks could not be compelled to perform military services and it was difficult or impossible to compel a monastery to perform other services incident to tenure. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw great expansion in monastic land holdings and consequent loss to the king and …


Torts-Assault And Battery-Use Of Traps To Protect Property From Felonious Taking, Charles E. Oldfather S. Ed. Nov 1952

Torts-Assault And Battery-Use Of Traps To Protect Property From Felonious Taking, Charles E. Oldfather S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff brought an action for personal injuries. Defendant planted two sticks of dynamite in the floor beneath the door of his mining warehouse in order to prevent repeated thefts of personal property from the building. The dynamite was rigged to explode when the door was opened. Plaintiff, with the intent of stealing whatever he could, broke the lock, opened the door, and from the ensuing explosion received leg and foot injuries. Plaintiff's act was a statutory felony. Defendant testified that he in good faith thought that the amount of dynamite used would merely frighten the plaintiff. Trial court held the …


Real Property-Tenancy By Entireties-Creation By Deed From Husband To Husband And Wife, Richard P. Matsch S. Ed. Nov 1952

Real Property-Tenancy By Entireties-Creation By Deed From Husband To Husband And Wife, Richard P. Matsch S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

H owned real estate in fee simple. His wife, W, joined with him in a warranty deed conveying the land to themselves with the expressed intention of creating a tenancy by entireties. H died and his heirs challenged W's right to take the fee by survivorship. The trial court held that a tenancy by entireties had been created and the wife properly took the fee. On appeal, held, affirmed, one judge dissenting. An Arkansas statute providing that a married man may convey "the interest specified in the deed" directly to his wife permits a husband, already owner …


Restraints On Alienation Of Legal Interests In Michigan Property: Iii, William F. Fratcher May 1952

Restraints On Alienation Of Legal Interests In Michigan Property: Iii, William F. Fratcher

Michigan Law Review

In England the impossibility of inter vivos creation of interests in expectancy in chattels and the unsuitability for the purpose of the devices of bailment and contract have tended to restrict attempts to restrain the alienation of chattels to the trust device and provisions in wills for forfeiture on alienation. The trust device involves equitable interests, which are beyond the scope of this study. In connection with a bequest of the use and occupation of chattels for life or a term of years the English courts would probably sustain the validity of a provision for forfeiture on alienation by way …


Real Property-Landlord And Tenant-Transfer By Lessee As Sublease, Not Assignment, John S. Slavens Apr 1952

Real Property-Landlord And Tenant-Transfer By Lessee As Sublease, Not Assignment, John S. Slavens

Michigan Law Review

X leased lands to plaintiff for a term of years, with a provision that if property truces were assessed against the property in excess of a certain amount, plaintiff would pay X a certain proportion of the excess amount as additional rent. Plaintiff then transferred his remaining term to defendant "subject to the terms" of the overlying lease. In addition, the sublease provided for a right to cancel the sublease if defendant failed to restore in case of fire or in the event of taking by eminent domain. Subsequent to the sublease, the tax assessments exceeded the amount stipulated in …


Restraints On Alienation Of Legal Interests In Michigan Property: I, William F. Fratcher Mar 1952

Restraints On Alienation Of Legal Interests In Michigan Property: I, William F. Fratcher

Michigan Law Review

During the century and a half which followed the Norman Conquest, the owner of land who attempted to transfer it might meet with opposition from three interested parties, his feudal overlord, his heir apparent and his tenant. His feudal overlord might object to a transfer by way of substitution, that is, one under the terms of which the transferor did not retain a reversion; because the proposed transferee was not a suitable person to perform the feudal services due for the land. As these services were frequently of a personal or military nature such an objection was not necessarily captious. …


Landlord And Tenant-Liability Of Landlord To Persons On The Premises-Breach Of Covenant To Repair, Thomas P. Segerson May 1951

Landlord And Tenant-Liability Of Landlord To Persons On The Premises-Breach Of Covenant To Repair, Thomas P. Segerson

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a carpenter, hired by tenant, suffered personal injuries in a fall caused by a defective railing on the rear porch of premises leased by defendant to tenant. By the terms of the lease, tenant was given exclusive possession of the premises, while defendant agreed to keep the rear porch in repair. Defendant had failed to repair the railing on being notified of its defective condition. From a judgment holding defendant liable to plaintiff for the injuries sustained; defendant appealed. Held, reversed. In the absence of control of the premises, a lessor is not liable in tort for personal …


Future Interests-Contingent Remainders-Destructibility By Merger, Douglass L. Mann S. Ed. Mar 1951

Future Interests-Contingent Remainders-Destructibility By Merger, Douglass L. Mann S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

X conveyed land to A for life, remainder to the heirs of A's body. Thereafter, X granted the same land by quit-claim deed to A in fee simple, without any conditions or restrictions whatever. The lower court upheld A's claim to an absolute fee in the property. On appeal, held, reversed. A holds a life estate and the reversion, but the remainder, though contingent, is not defeated. Whitten v. Whitten, (Okla. 1950) 219 P. (2d) 228.


Future Interests-Power Of Remainderman To Compel Partition Of Future Interests, Nancy J. Ringland S. Ed. Mar 1951

Future Interests-Power Of Remainderman To Compel Partition Of Future Interests, Nancy J. Ringland S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A remainderman in fee of an undivided interest in real estate brought a suit to compel partition of the remainder. The whole of the premises was subject to a life estate, but the life tenant made no objection to this action. The applicable Nebraska statute provided that "all tenants in common, or joint tenants of any estate in land may be compelled to make or suffer partition of such estate or estates in the manner hereinafter prescribed." Demurrers to the petition were sustained on the ground that an estate in remainder could not be the subject of involuntary or compulsory …


Landlord And Tenant-Interpretation Of Clause In A Lease Providing For Termination In Event Of Destruction Of Premises, Alan C. Boyd Mar 1950

Landlord And Tenant-Interpretation Of Clause In A Lease Providing For Termination In Event Of Destruction Of Premises, Alan C. Boyd

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff leased property from the defendant for a term of years. The lease provided that the lessor should repair damage from fire and that "the tenancy shall not be terminated unless such repairs shall require more than ninety days." A fire occurred which damaged the property so badly that it could not be repaired within ninety days. The lessor took the position that the tenancy had automatically terminated with the occurrence of the fire. The lessee filed a bill for a declaratory judgment, claiming that under the terms of the lease he had the option either to terminate or …


Procedure-Contempt As Sanction To Enforce Delivery In Replevin, John A. Nordberg Jan 1950

Procedure-Contempt As Sanction To Enforce Delivery In Replevin, John A. Nordberg

Michigan Law Review

In a replevin action in a common pleas court the plaintiff, after filing a $200 bond for property later valued at $900, obtained possession of some household goods of the defendant under a fatally defective writ. On motion of the defendant the court dismissed the action and ordered the property returned. On appeal, plaintiff's action was again dismissed and he was directed to return defendant's goods. He ignored the order and was adjudged guilty of contempt. On appeal in the nature of certiorari from this conviction, held, reversed without prejudice. The order was void since the court had lost …


Equity-Disinterment Of Dead Body Buried In Another's Land, Richard H. Conn Jan 1949

Equity-Disinterment Of Dead Body Buried In Another's Land, Richard H. Conn

Michigan Law Review

Complainant sought a decree in equity compelling defendant, administratrix of the estate of one Abram London, to remove the body of deceased from a grave on land belonging to complainant. Complainant had purchased the land in 1934, but through error of the cemetery officials it was resold to London in 1944. London's wife was buried in the adjacent plot. Defendant contended that the relief requested would transgress London's wish to be buried adjacent to his wife. Held, decree granted. The body of a person buried in a grave belonging to another is not properly buried, and the court will …


Eshheat-Bona Vacantia-Right Of State To Claim Unclaimed Royalty Payments Of A Corporation, N. S. Peterman Jun 1948

Eshheat-Bona Vacantia-Right Of State To Claim Unclaimed Royalty Payments Of A Corporation, N. S. Peterman

Michigan Law Review

The State of Arkansas brought suit against defendant to recover "various moneys, rents, royalties, credits, and other personal property, which had been unclaimed, forgotten, abandoned, or otherwise lost by-various persons," and which were allegedly in the possession of defendant. The state, not knowing who the previous owners were, submitted interrogatories to defendant which were designed to discover exactly what was in defendant's possession, and who had been the last known owners thereof. The state based its claim on the statutes and on the common law doctrine of bona vacantia. Defendant's demurrer was sustained. On appeal, held, affirmed. The state …


Future Interests - Statute Abolishing The Rule In Shelley's Case Applied To The Worthier Title Doctrine, Joseph W. Morris May 1948

Future Interests - Statute Abolishing The Rule In Shelley's Case Applied To The Worthier Title Doctrine, Joseph W. Morris

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff set up an irrevocable trust of $75,000 to pay the income to himself for life, and upon his death to distribute the remainder of the trust to his heirs at law according to the laws of succession of the State of California in existence at his death. He later brought suit to terminate the trust on the theory that the worthier title doctrine prevented the creation of a remainder in his heirs at law, and that as sole beneficiary of the trust, he was entitled to termination. Held, the worthier title doctrine was inapplicable because of a statute …


Real Property-Easements-Extinction Of Easements Created By Implication Or Prescription On Sale Of Servient Land To Bona Fide Purchaser, Howard W. Haftel Apr 1948

Real Property-Easements-Extinction Of Easements Created By Implication Or Prescription On Sale Of Servient Land To Bona Fide Purchaser, Howard W. Haftel

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs and defendants owned adjoining farms. About thirty years ago their predecessors in title had constructed an underground tile drain from plaintiffs' farm to and across defendants' farm. In 1934 this drain was obstructed. In 1941 the servient farm was sold to defendants, who gave value and had no knowledge of the existence of the drain. Plaintiffs sought an injunction to compel removal of the obstruction. The lower court found that plaintiffs had acquired a prescriptive right to use the drain before it was obstructed, but refused to grant the injunction on the ground that defendants as bona fide purchasers …


Some General Aspects Of Michigan Community Property Law, William E. Burby Jan 1948

Some General Aspects Of Michigan Community Property Law, William E. Burby

Michigan Law Review

The common law, in recognition of the fact that one spouse is entitled to some economic security in the property of the other spouse, evolved the interests known as dower and curtesy. These interests, of course, apply only with respect to land. The husband enjoyed an additional economic advantage that came from the management and control of his wife's property. This latter advantage has disappeared with the advent of Married Women's Property Acts that confer upon married women the right to manage their own estates. Statutes have also expanded on the concept of dower and curtesy by providing for a …


Personal Property-Finder's Rights As Against Owner Of Premises Where Chattel Is Found. [Minnesota And Virginia] Mar 1947

Personal Property-Finder's Rights As Against Owner Of Premises Where Chattel Is Found. [Minnesota And Virginia]

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.


Liens - Extent To Which Common-Law Artisan's Lien Has Been Supplanted By Statute, Arthur P. Boynton Dec 1938

Liens - Extent To Which Common-Law Artisan's Lien Has Been Supplanted By Statute, Arthur P. Boynton

Michigan Law Review

An artisan's lien is the right of a bailee, who by his labor, skill, or material adds value to the chattel of another at the request of the owner, directly or impliedly, to retain possession of the chattel until the reasonable value of his services has been paid. The right to this lien, which is a specific lien, is of common-law origin, and in the absence of anything inconsistent in the contract has long been extended to all artisans. This common-law artisan's lien, however, has been supplanted by statute in some respect in all but five states. In the other …


An Introduction To The Statute Of Uses, Wendell Carnahan Jan 1936

An Introduction To The Statute Of Uses, Wendell Carnahan

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Rights In Land - Lateral Support - Statute Increasing Common Law Rights And Duties - Constitutionality Mar 1935

Rights In Land - Lateral Support - Statute Increasing Common Law Rights And Duties - Constitutionality

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued for damages to his building which collapsed during excavating operations on defendant's adjoining land. A Michigan statute makes it the duty of land owners excavating to a depth of 12 feet or more below grade level to furnish sufficient lateral support to protect adjacent land and structures thereon from injury "due to the removed material in its natural state, or due to the disturbance of other existing conditions caused by such excavation," and imposes liability for injuries due to failure to comply with the act. The excavation on defendant's land, reaching a depth of 14 feet below grade …


Contracts - Champerty Mar 1933

Contracts - Champerty

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff leased her lands to defendant under a void oil and gas lease. One Johnston induced plaintiff to enter into a contract with him whereby Johnston agreed to pay the costs of a bill to cancel the lease in return for a new lease to himself should the bill be successful. Accordingly, this suit was brought to cancel the lease. The court, agreeing that the existing lease was void, nevertheless dismissed the bill on the ground that the contract between Johnston and plaintiff was void as against public policy, and that plaintiff had no standing in equity. Of the eight …


Affidavits And Notice Under Ohio Mechanics' Lien Statute, Joseph O'Meara Jan 1930

Affidavits And Notice Under Ohio Mechanics' Lien Statute, Joseph O'Meara

Journal Articles

Recent cases under the Ohio Mechanics' Lien Statute have tended to emphasize the existing confusion in the perfecting of mechanics' liens and the need for statutory revision. The scintilla rule should be abandoned. Nor should the doctrine of stare decisis call up misgivings.


Rights Of Finders, Ralph W. Aigler Jan 1923

Rights Of Finders, Ralph W. Aigler

Articles

Much of the confusion and uncertainty in the law regarding the topic indicated above is due to a failure to distinguish between several types of situations and to appreciate the applicability of certain fundamental principles. The words "lost" and "find" are used in such widely varying senses that the all too common method of reaching a conclusion by first applying a name to a thing or situation has in this particular field led to special difficulty.


Rights Of Finders, Ralph W. Aigler Jan 1923

Rights Of Finders, Ralph W. Aigler

Articles

Much of the confusion and uncertainty in the law regarding the topic indicated above is due to a failure to distinguish between several types of situations and to appreciate the applicability of certain fundamental principles. The words "lost" and "find" are used in such widely varying senses that the all too common method of reaching a conclusion by first applying a name to a thing or situation has in this particular field led to special difficulty.