Real Property (continued)ReviewPossessory interests•free-holdfee simplefee taillife estate•Leaseholdtenancy for yearsperiodic tenancytenancy at willtenancy at sfferanceDefeasible estate•Determinable estate•Estate subject to condition subsequentIII. Future Interests•Future interests give rights to the enjoyment of property at a future time.•“to A for life, then to B and his heirs.”•“to A for life” creates a life estate for A, while B, although can not possess the land right now, has a future interest. His future interest is not a mere expectancy, like the hope of a child to inherit from a parent. His future interest gives him legal rights. B has present legal rights and liabilities. He can prohibit A from committing a waste, he can sue a third party who is injuring the land or, if B dies during the life of A, B’s interest will be inherited by his heir, and a federal estate tax or state inheritance tax may be levied upon its value.•Although a future interest does not entitle its owner to present possession, it is a presently exiting interest that may become possessory in the future.•Future interests recognized in Anglo-American legal systems are of 2 types:interests retained by the transferorinterests created in a transferee3.1 interests retained by the transferor•3.1.1 possibility of reverter 回归权，偶然取回权•Possibility of reverter follows a determinable fee. When the owner of a fee simple absolute transfers a fee simple determinable, the grantor automatically retains a possibility of reverter. •“To Bob and his heirs so long as the land is farmed” cr eates a fee simple determinable. The moment the land is no longer farmed, the estate ends, i.e., that Bob no longer has estate, where does the estate go? It goes back to O or his heirs. This is O’s possibility of reverter.•3.1.2 right of entry (power of termination)附终止权的取回权•O conveys blackacre "to A and his heirs, but if the premises are used for the sale of alcoholic beverages, O has the right to retake the premises”. In this case, A has a fee simple subject to condition subsequent. If he sells alcoholic beverages on blackacre, O, then, has the right to retake the land. So, from the owner’s point of view, he has a right of entry. This is his future interest.•3.1.3 reversion 复归权•Historically, the earliest future interest to develop was a reversion. If O, a fee simple owner, grantedthe land to A for life, the land would come back to him at A’s death. This is reversion. To be exact, reversion is O’s right to future possession of the land. If O dies during A’s life, O’s reversion passes under his will or to his heirs.•In a general sense, then, a reversion is the interest left in an owner when he carves out of his estate a lesser (smaller) estate and does not provide who is to take the property when the lesser/smaller estate expires.•A fee simple is a greater estate than a fee tail, which is a greater estate than a life estate, which is a greater estate than the leasehold estate. Hence if O, owning a fee simple, creates a fee tail, a life estate, or a term of years, and does not at the same time convey a vested remainder in fee simple, O has a reversion. If A, owning a life estate, creates a term of years, A has a reversion.•The above 3 future interests all belong to a transferor. The law, on the other hand, also recognize future interests in transferees.•3.2.1 remainder 剩余产权，转归权，继受权•3.2.1 remainder 剩余产权，转归权，继受权•An example is “to A for life, then to B and her heirs.” In this example, you are sure that A has a life estate, and A is doomed to die, B has to wait patiently until A dies, then he will own the land in fee simp le. If there is no expression as “then to B and her heirs”, O has a reversion. Now, with the expression, the property goes to B. If B dies during A’s life, on B’s death, B’s remainder passes to his heirs, if B dies without heirs, the state takes the property. This is a vested remainder. 既定的转归权/继受权。
