MBE Rules · Real Property
Doctrine of merger (estates)
The rule
When successive vested estates in the same land come into the hands of one person with no intervening vested estate, the lesser estate merges into the greater and is extinguished. Merger does not occur where it would destroy an intervening vested remainder or defeat the grantor's clear intent.
In plain English
If A holds a life estate and later takes the vested remainder in fee, the life estate disappears and A has a fee simple. Merger also terminates easements when dominant and servient estates unite in one owner.
The trap
Contingent remainders historically were destroyed by merger; modernly most jurisdictions have abolished the destructibility rule.
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