Under the doctrine of estates, land is divided by time
A worked RES examination question on life estates, from our Paper 1 bank — with the rule it turns on, and why each of the four options is right or wrong.
The question
A house has been left so that a widow may live in it for the rest of her life, with her late husband's nephew taking it on her death. Both are named in the file the solicitor has opened. A friend of the widow's insists this can only work if the land itself has somehow been split between the two of them.
Which statement is correct?
The answer, and why
Answer: D
The rule. Under the doctrine of estates, land is divided by time. That is what allows several people to hold interests in the same land at once — one entitled to possession now, another entitled later.
Why D is correct. The widow holds the present interest and the nephew a future one in the very same plot; no physical splitting of the land is needed, or has occurred. The division is by time, not by area.
The other options.
- A describes subdivision, which produces separate parcels rather than concurrent interests in one.
- C describes zoning and planning control.
- B denies concurrent interests altogether, which would make leases, life estates and remainders impossible.
Exam note. The friend's instinct — that two people cannot both "have" one plot unless it is cut in two — is exactly the misconception the doctrine of estates answers.
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