Assignment 12.1 pg. 388

For each of the following occurrences, identify the ownership interest of the parties or their action in terms of its effect on the property (or both where appropriate).

1.Dennis leaves his house to his children. However, they will not receive title or possession until death of Dennis's life partner Ralph, who has the right to control the property for the rest of his life.

2.Jennifer was married to James. When James died, his will left everything in his estate to his church, including the residence occupied by him and Jennifer (valued at $80,000) and James's personal property (valued $2,000). The real property was in James's name only. Jennifer goes court to claim one-half of the estate.

3.Assume that Jennifer and James from situation #3 were not married.

4.Assume that Jennifer and James from situation #3 owned the property as joint tenants.

5.Max and Joe have owned property for 40 years as tenants in common. They rent out the property for income. Max married Susan and was killed while on their honeymoon.

Assignment 12.3 pg. 398

Examine the following situations and determine what easements, if any exist. Than identify the dominant and servient tenements and whether the easements are affirmative or negative.

1.James lives in a rental house behind his landlord house. There is no garage or driveway to the rental house. James generally parks his car on the street and walks across the landlord's yard to get to the rental house.

2.Carinna owns a small farm. Her two horses typically drink from the creek that runs along the property. However, this year the area is experiencing drought conditions. She gets permission to use the pond on the adjacent property to water her horses as long as she agrees to walk them through the woods and not the cornfields to get to it.

3.Sam and Oscar are brothers; they buy a corner two-acre lot as tenants in common. They build a driveway down the center of the property. Sam builds on one side of the driveway and Oscar builds a house on the other. Because the driveway opens onto a very busy road, Sam generally follows the driveway to a gravel road that Oscar built behind his house, which connects to a much less busy street.

4.Elisa and Juan are married and have seven children together. After 12 years of marriage, they decide to divorce. Elisa takes full custody of the children, who are all under the age of 10. To make things easier on the children, Juan purchases a house located on property behind Elisa. Because of the way subdivision is laid out, Juan's house is at the very back of the subdivision. He must drive more than a mile each time he picks the children up. Elisa agrees to build a short drive from the back of her house to Juan's property line. He is only allowed to use drive to pick up the children. However, he discovers it to be a quick exit to the subdivision and begins using it all the time. Elisa attempts to end his use entirely and is told by the court that he may still use it to pick up the children.

Assignment 12.8 pg. 428

Read the following situation and describe the legal nature of the items missing or damaged and the legal action, if any, available to the parties involved.

Mark, Eduardo, Oscar, and Sam are college roommates. Oscar is the only one to stay in the apartment over the summer vacation. When the other three return for the fall term, some things have changed. Sam's bedding (issued by the college) has been washed and dried. Apparently, the detergent contained a bleaching agent and there are white spots all over the bedspread. Sam suspects that Oscar washed his owned his own bedding during the summer, ruined it, and exchanged it with Sam's. Also, a video gaming chair with surround sound that belonged to Mark is missing. Oscar claims that he thought Mark took the chair home, since it has not been in the apartment all summer and he hasn't seen it since the big party the night before everyone left for the summer. Eduardo has never trusted Oscar. Not wanting to spend all the money to ship everything home, Eduardo his hid antique coin collection somewhere in the apartment. He was inebriated when he did so and now cannot recall where he placed it. Finally, the group always contributed equally to the cost of nonperishable groceries, cleaning supplies, paper products, and toiletries. They agreed at the end of the spring term to store all leftover items in a closet, so they have them for the fall term. Oscar was to be responsible for his own supplies during summer. With all that has happened, the three returning roommates ask Oscar to move out. He demands his portion of the items that the parties all shared.