Property - Prof. Whitman - Fall 2000
Essay Question 1

(70 minutes estimated time)

Grandpa Owens executed a new will shortly before his death in 1988. In it he left his farm, Green Acres, as follows:

"my two nephews, Tom and Jerry, as tenants jointly, but on the condition that they shall never sell the farm to anyone outside my family."

Grandpa's residuary devisee was his daughter, Mabel. When Grandpa died, Tom moved onto the farm and began operating it successfully and profitably. Jerry was a lawyer in the city and had little interest in the farm, but he occasionally visited the farm to see how Tom was operating it, and he insisted that Tom pay him $500 per month, which Jerry said was half of the fair market rent for the farm.

Tom made these payments for about a year, but in October 1990 he wrote a letter to Jerry, stating, "I'm fed up with paying you this money every month. From now on, don't expect any more from me - and stay away from the farm. I don't want your interference." Jerry received no further payments from Tom. Jerry believed it would be better not to worsen the conflict with his brother, so he took no action after receiving the letter, and he has not visited the farm since that time.

Tom continued his farming activity until about three months ago, in September 2000, when Tom received an offer to buy his half interest in the farm from Bob Byers (who is unrelated to Tom). Bob wanted to partition the farm and build an office building there. Tom entered into a contract agreeing to sell his ½ interest in the farm to Byers for $100,000. Jerry was not informed of this contract and took no part in it. The closing date for the sale was (and still is) scheduled for December 20, 2000. In preparation for the sale, Tom discontinued his farming activities and removed his farm equipment in late September, and the property has been vacant since that time.

Last month, Jerry was attacked and killed by the irate husband of one of his domestic relations clients. He (like most lawyers) left no will, and his administrator and sole heir is his daughter, Gena. Gena has consulted you.

Please advise Gena as to who owns interests in the land, and whether any party (Tom, Gena, Mabel, or Bob) has a claim against another party. Discuss all relevant issues.

 

Essay Question 2

(40 minutes estimated time)

Harry Horne owned a small collection of extremely valuable coins, worth in total over $100,000. His wife, Betty, was a collector of rare books, although her books were not nearly as valuable as Harry's coins. Neither of them trusted banks, so they kept their collections at home. However, after their house was the target of an abortive burglary attempt, Harry decided that he needed to take some action to improve the security of his coin collection. He saw an advertisement in a magazine for a "security book." Its exterior had the appearance of a leather-bound edition of "David Copperfield", but the inside was hollow, allowing valuables to be stored there. Harry ordered the "security book," placed his most valuable coins in it, and put in on the shelf in his den at home, where Betty kept her book collection. He mentioned this clever move to several friends at his golf club, saying "I'll sleep better, knowing my coins are protected by David Copperfield."

Unfortunately, he failed to mention his actions to Betty. A few weeks later, Betty received a newsletter from a rare book club to which she belonged. It included an advertisement from a local "book preservation expert" named Tom Tome, claiming that his preservation treatment would prevent mildew and mold from damaging old books. Betty put her book collection in a carton, took it to Tom Tome's shop, and asked him to treat it. She included, without noticing it, Harry's "security book" that contained his coins. Tom placed the books on a shelf at his shop, saying it would be a week before he would have time to treat them. Tom gave Betty a receipt for the books, and in small print at the bottom of the receipt were the words, "Not responsible for theft or loss of books." She did notice these words at the time.

A few days later, Larry Larcener appeared at Tom's shop. He explained that he had just purchased a valuable copy of "David Copperfield" from Betty Horne, and showed Tom a bill of sale for the book apparently signed by Betty. In fact, the bill of sale was a forgery; Larry had overheard at the golf club Harry's talk about securing his coin collection inside the copy of "David Copperfield," and had followed Betty when she took her books to Tom's shop.

Tom assumed that Larry had a right to the book. He rummaged through Betty's carton of books, found "David Copperfield," placed it on the counter, and said, "OK, I guess." He had no idea that it was not a real book or that it contained valuable coins. After Larry left with the "book," Tom telephoned Betty and told her what he had done. Betty replied, "I don't remember owning a copy of 'David Copperfield.' Maybe it's my husband's book. I'll ask him about it."

When Harry discovered what had happened to his coins, he was "steamed." He tried to locate Larry and learned that Larry had left town with no forwarding address. He has now consulted you, asking whether you believe he could bring a successful suit against Tom for the value of the coins that Harry had placed in the book. Please answer his question, discussing all relevant legal issues.