Equitable Interests Research Articles

Overreaching, Trustees' Powers and the Reform of the 1925 Legislation

Overreaching, as the doctrine is now understood, is the process whereby a purchaser of property takes it free from any interests or powers, which attach instead to the proceeds of sale. Dispositions of trust property and conveyances by mortgagees, by personal representatives and under an order of the court may all overreach equitable interests. A lease granted by a mortgagor may overreach the rights of the mortgagee. This article is concerned primarily with dispositions of trust property and in particular those by trustees for sale of land. It seeks to demonstrate that the concept of overreaching is wider than is supposed. Two principal arguments are advanced. The first is that overreaching is a necessary concomitant of a power of disposition. A transaction made by a person within the dispositive powers conferred upon him will overreach equitable interests in that property, butultra viresdispositions will not, and the transferee with notice will take the property subject to those interests. The second argument is that the draftsman of the 1925 property legislation fully appreciated the true nature of overreaching, and attempted to employ it as an essential part of his scheme for the facilitation of conveyancing. His intentions have not been appreciated in practice, and his carefully constructed scheme has been misapplied. The article considers critically recent proposals for reform from the Law Commission, and in particular the emphasis which those proposals give to the protection of the rights of persons in actual occupation. It will be suggested that reform might be more effectively achieved by employing the essentials of the scheme constructed by the draftsman of the 1925 legislation.

Priorities of Equitable Interests

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Equitable Interests—Position of Beneficiaries under will or Intestacy—Whether Administration Complete—Tracing

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Husband and Wife—Deserted Wife's Right to Matrimonial Home—Equitable Interests and “Mere Equities”

Husband and Wife—Deserted Wife's Right to Matrimonial Home—Equitable Interests and “Mere Equities”

Seniority Problems in Business Mergers

Recent evidence indicates that mergers of United States industrial corporations are now proceeding at a rate equal to, or possibly greater than, the merger boom of the twenties. In many instances, mergers may result in a consolidation of plant, equipment, and work forces under a single management. Seniority units, on the other hand, usually are limited to a single establishment. The problem of integrating two employee groups in terms of the requirements of the merged unit while, at the same time, preserving equitable interests in seniority is often difficult, indeed. In this article, Mark L. Kahn discusses the problems and some recent experiences in integrating seniority units and evaluates alternative methods of seniority unit integration under the circumstances of a business merger. (Author's abstract courtesy EBSCO.)

Restraints on Alienation of Equitable Interests in Michigan Property

Restraints on Alienation of Equitable Interests in Michigan Property

Trusts and Titles

The outstanding characteristic of all equitable interests in property is that they do not affect a purchaser who, without notice of their existence, acquires a legal estate in that property in good faith and for value. This rule is of respectable antiquity, and still holds good. As is well known, however, a doctrine ofconstructivenotice was developed by Courts of Equity, whereby purchasers are deemed to have notice of the existence of an equitable interest if they unjustifiably omit to make some enquiry or to inspect some deed which would have revealed it. The consequence of this doctrine was that a purchaser of land, which was subject to equitable interests, was seldom able to say that he purchased without notice of them.

Spendthrift Trusts: Restraints on the Alienation of Equitable Interests Imposed by the Terms of the Trust or by Statute

Spendthrift Trusts: Restraints on the Alienation of Equitable Interests Imposed by the Terms of the Trust or by Statute

Spendthrift Trusts. Restraints on the Alienation of Equitable Interests Imposed by the Terms of the Trust or by Statute

Spendthrift Trusts. Restraints on the Alienation of Equitable Interests Imposed by the Terms of the Trust or by Statute

Recording and Registry Laws. Nature and Scope. Application to Takers of Equitable Interests

Recording and Registry Laws. Nature and Scope. Application to Takers of Equitable Interests

Equitable Liens Under Hire-Purchase Agreements

The provisions of the Law of Property and Land Charges Acts, 1925, in regard to the registration of land charges, havt modified, almost to the extent of annihilation, the dependence of equitable interests on the question whether ihe legal estate owner had actual notice, or was affected by constnuctive notice, of their existence. The exact scope of those land charges which aro included by the Land Charges Act, 1925, s. 10, sub-s. 1, Class C (iii), under the term ‘general equitable charges’ remains to be delimited. The editors of the eleventh edition of Wolslenholme and Cherry's Conveyancing Statutes comment with characteristic caution: ‘This paragraph sweeps up the remaining equitable charges, not otherwise specifically named, which require protection.’ This does not help us very much. It is presumed that the lien which an unpaid vendor of land has for the purchase-money is a general equitable charge, and requires to be registered. But what about the charge which a cestvi quc trust has on land which has been bought out of a mixed fund consisting partly of trust money and partly of the trustee's money, for the amount of the trust money laid out in the purchase? The new rule does not seem exactly appropriate to such a case.

The Doctrine of Purchase for Value as Applied to the Transfer of Equitable Interests

The Doctrine of Purchase for Value as Applied to the Transfer of Equitable Interests

Attachment: Garnishment of Equitable Interests

Attachment: Garnishment of Equitable Interests

Priority of Equities and the Purchase of Equitable Interests

Priority of Equities and the Purchase of Equitable Interests

Purchase for Value and without Notice of Equitable Interests

Purchase for Value and without Notice of Equitable Interests

Equitable Interests in Foreign Property

Equitable Interests in Foreign Property

Equitable Interests: Assignability

Equitable Interests: Assignability

Conflicting Equitable Interests and Purchase for Value

Conflicting Equitable Interests and Purchase for Value