[Overture - Present Estates] Present estates, let us explore The ways we hold property's door Fee simple absolute leads our way The greatest estate to this very day No limitations, no conditions found The perfect ownership, complete and sound [Movement I - Fee Simple Estates] Fee simple absolute, complete control No restrictions on this estate so bold To have and to hold, and then to sell To pass by will, or any way to tell But add conditions, watch what we find Fee simple defeasible comes to mind Subject to condition subsequent they say If broken, rights may slip away Or determinable with limitation Automatic end on violation [First Interlude - Transition] Now let us turn with graceful air To lesser estates we must declare [Movement II - Life Estates] Life estate, measured by breath Ending naturally at the holder's death "To Ann for life," the grant declares While living, all the rights she bears To use and profit, but must preserve The property's value, this must observe [Second Interlude - Future Interests] But what comes after? We must see The future interests that may be [Movement III - Reversion and Remainders] When grantors keep their future claim Reversion is its proper name "To Ann for life, then back to me" Returns to grantor naturally But if to others it must go Remainders are what we must know Vested remainder, clear and bright No conditions cloud this future right Contingent remainder waits to see If conditions met will ever be "To Ann for life, then to Bob if wed" Uncertainty lies ahead [Movement IV - The Rule Against Perpetuities] Twenty-one years plus lives in being That's the rule that we're decreeing Must vest if at all, we clearly state Or void from the very starting date [Grand Finale - All Estates Together] Present estates show what we hold Future interests soon unfold Fee simple leads our property dance Life estates take their rightful stance Reversions return to whence they came Remainders make their future claim [Coda] Remember well these property rules They form our legal future's tools From fee simple down to life estate Each has its purpose, each its fate In property law's eternal dance Where ownership takes its sacred chance [Final Cadence] For in these rules of property We find the keys to legacy
