Estates in Land and Future Interests

Book excerpt: The fifth edition of Estates in Land and Future Interests combines graphics, text boxes, and pedagogical techniques especially helpful to visual learners to teach the basics of estates and future interests, a particularly confusing subset of first-year property. One central graphic -- a flow chart used to identify the state of the title after a particular conveyance -- links various estates to the future interests that follow them. The complete flow chart appears on the inside back cover for easy reference. The book is useful both in class and as a practice book for self-guided learning outside class, thus reducing necessary syllabus time. Its step-by-step, process approach breaks up analytical tasks into smaller pieces, reducing the degree to which students get lost in the material. The book anticipates the most common areas of student confusion and resolves them before they occur. Written in clear, simple language, with short paragraphs and chapters, Estates in Land and Future Interests features an open, attractive design enhanced by graphics to make the material easier to understand.