Can anyone please explain this to me? When does this rule come into play? Thank you.

The Rule Against Perpetuities (no "the") is from some old case law for which I don't have a citation handy at the moment, although I have read the case. It says that all interest in a property shall vest within twenty-one years and ten lunar months of the end of a life in being at the time the trust was created.

The ten lunar months recognizes a "life in being" as one which had been conceived at the time of the creation of the trust. In actual practice, the ten lunar months was dropped.

The point of the rule was to prevent property of whatever nature from being tied up "in perpetuity"--in short, forever, as that would be an improper restraint on alienation. While it may have applied to certain reversions in real property, most of those have been done away with by statute or code.

HTH

TY

RAP

No interest is valid unless, at the time of its creation, must vest or fail to vest within a life in being plus 21 years.

The rule comes into play against future interests.

Look for a will, option to buy back on a deed or a life estate. If you see any of those.in the hypos.. the test-grader may be testing RAP.

Good Luck

P.S. Breath easy... most test-makers know that you barely understand RAP. Heck... most attorneys barely understand RAP. Therefore... it is important to know when to apply the rule... and to state it right. If you screw up the application... don't worry. Most test-takers are going to screw it up as well and it will be a wash.

What Jimmy said. Also barbri tells you to answer with choice A. That way a large percentage all gets it right or wrong and it is thrown out. Saves time too!

Amen. I don't even know why they test for RAP. A court has said that a lawyer who did not understand RAP was not liable for malpractice when he failed to properly apply RAP.

Most law school professors hate teaching RAP because it takes so much time and in the end... less than half the class understands RAP.

Many states have made laws getting around RAP.

I agree. If the answer doesn't jump up at you. Waste no time. Answer A. With luck the test examiners will throw the question out... if not... the large percentage of test takers will get it wrong.

Offered by one of the Barbri professors

shortcut for RAP multiple choice questions

Rule 1- The last person mentioned by Proper Name (Roger, Peter) who has a future interest will take the property

Rule 2- If Rule 1 doesn't apply, The first person or group people not named by proper names (nieces ; nephews) they will take the property. 

Rule 3- all additional parties lose and property reverts back to grantor and/or his assings and heirs

Odds of RAP showing up on the MBE portion are minimal. I took to different state exams and, thus, 2 MBEs. I don't remember seeing it on the test. I, however, agree with the advice above: mark A, unless you can actually figure out the question.

If, however, you are in a state that routinely tests the RAP on an essay, then . . . sorry.

It doesn't apply to all future interests; only contingent remainders, executory interests, and remainders subject to open (think Donald Trump; the more kids he has, the less their shares will be)

the lecturer on pmbr's audio cds said, "kiss it off! kiss it off!" if you don't understand it by now, don't worry about it. make sure you nail equitable servitudes, race-notice statutes, warranty deeds, mortgages, severing joint estates, etc. future interests are overrated.. part of the indoctrination process.

hahaaaa. i can still hear that guy going, "kiss it off! kiss it off!" he also says mod-er-in-ly. i think i need a break!??!

Another thing that its important to understanding about the RAP is that the "life in being" -- called the 'measuring life' -- cannot just be anyone. It has to be someone identified in or natural to the conveyance. At first, I didn't understand this point and this is part of the reason why I found the RAP as stated so confusing. I thought 'within 21 years of a life in being? Why doesn't that mean that every conveyance must vest before the death of the youngest, strongest person in existance at the time of the conveyance?" It seemed pointless. But once I understood that I head to learn how to tell who is the measuring life, then the rule started to make more sense. I paseed the Feb 2009 and I thought that the RAP was relevant to determining the answer in many of the MBE questions on that exam.