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Rights of Reverter and Statute Quia Emptores
Vance, William
Vance, William
Abstract
"It was little the disposition of English lawyers," wrote Professor Gray in commenting upon the meagerness of the consideration given in English Law to determinable fees, "to trouble themselves about questions which did not come up practically." The same thing could even more truly be said of American lawyers. If determinable fees and rights of reverter dependent upon them were of no more frequent occurrence in the United States than in England, there would certainly be no sufficient reason for giving further time to their discussion. But such is not the case. American courts have been frequently called upon to determine the nature and validity of such estates, and the cases involving them in new and unexpected relationships appear to be increasing in number and importance. This peculiar fact is probably due to the sense of rapid change felt in a new country, even in land uses to be expected, causing grantors and testators to anticipate that the purposes and uses for which gifts of land are made may not persist in perpetuity. But whatever the reason, it is clearly desirable that American lawyers should come to a more satisfactory understanding of the true nature of rights of reverter than is now possessed.