Questions on First Restatement on Property
1)
According to the law of Illinois
the window treatments in a house on Mary Barrie’s property in Iowa
are not fixtures and so are personalty, not real property. Under the
law of Iowa
they are fixtures. An Illinois
court, using the First Restatement approach, is trying to determine
whether Barrie’s
will is valid with respect to the window treatments. What result?
2) Consider questions 3-4 on p. 28-29 of the
casebook in both the 7th and 8th eds. Does
the state where the
property is located always have
the greatest interest in its law applying when rights of succession in
the
property is determined? Did Iowa have the greatest interest in the
validity of the will in Barrie’s Estate?
3) Consider Miller v. Lucks (Miss 1948). A white man and black
woman
(originally from Mississippi)
live in Illinois
and eventually marry there. The marriage is valid under Illinois,
but not Mississippi,
law. Furthermore, Mississippi
does not, in general, recognize interracial marriages even if they are
valid
under the laws of the state where the marriage was celebrated. The
woman dies
and the husband claims a husband's interest in Mississippi
property owned by the wife. How do you think the Mississippi
court decided this case? Is Mississippi interested in its law
prohiniting interracial marriages applying in this case?
4) Massachusetts (but not New Hampshire) has a law preventing wives
from contracting with their husbands. X (from Massachusetts) enters
into a contract in Massachusetts to convey New Hampshire property to
her husband. What result?
5) In Illinois A (a domiciliary of Illinois)
conveys property located in Iowa
to B (a domiciliary of Illinois). A then dies. Under Illinois
law,
A’s widow retains a dower in the property (that is, a life estate
in 1/3 of her husband's property that cannot be deprived by any
transfer by the husband during his lifetime).
Under the law of Iowa,
she does
not retain a dower. Does A’s widow retain a dower or not?
6)
A, a domiciliary of Illinois who owns land in Illinois, marries B, a domiciliary of Illinois who owns land in Iowa. By the law of Illinois, land of either spouse becomes community
property upon
marriage; by the law of Iowa it remains the separate property of the spouse.
Who owns
what after the marriage?
7) In Illinois, A
conveys to B the personalty
assets of his business, which
operated out of Iowa. At the time of
the
conveyance some trucks used in the business are in Illinois. Under the law
of Illinois the conveyance
is valid.
Under the laws of Iowa it is not. Who
owns the
trucks?
8) Under Illinois law of
adverse possession, one must hold onto personalty for 2 years to
acquire title. Under Iowa law of adverse possession, it takes 3 years.
After holding onto X's television
set in Illinois for two and a half years, Y moves with the set to Iowa
and is sued by X there. What result? What result if X had held onto the
TV for one and a half years in Illinois and then a year in Iowa before
being sued by Y?