Real Property NextGen Bar Exam Study Guide

About Real Property

Estates, landlord–tenant, servitudes, real estate contracts, mortgages, and title. NCBE flags 8 of its topics at memorize level; the rest lean on provided materials and reasoning.

From chapter 1, Present Estates & Future Interests (no RAP)

Property law lets an owner slice up ownership across time. One person can possess land now; another gets it later; a third might get it only if some event happens. The words in a deed or a will build a timeline of who owns what, and when. This topic is the grammar of that timeline. Master the vocabulary — the names of the 'present estates' (who holds the land today) and the 'future interests' (who is waiting in the wings) — and a wall of confusing conveyance language turns into a simple map. A few plain-English terms first. To convey is to transfer property, usually by deed. The grantor gives; the grantee receives. An interest is alienable if it can be sold or given away during life, devisable if it can be left by will, and descendible if it passes to your heirs when you die without a will. Keep those four words handy — half of this topic is just asking which of them apply to a given interest.