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11. The court should hold that legal title to Blackacre is vested
The woman and the nephew have been unable to agree as to the status or disposition of Blackacre. The nephew brought an appropriate action against the owner and the woman to quiet title to an undivided one-half interest in Blackacre.
Unknown to the woman or her brother, the friend had died several months before the closing. The friend's will, which was duly probated, devised «All my real estate to my nephew» and the residue of his estate to the woman.
When the woman learned that the friend would have to sign certain documents in connection with the closing, she asked her brother to attend the closing and pretend to be the friend. The woman and her brother attended the closing, and the owner executed an instrument in the proper form of a deed, purporting to convey Blackacre to the woman and the friend, as tenants in common. The brother pretended that he was the friend, and he signed the friend's name to all the required documents. The woman provided the entire $50,000 consideration for the transaction. The deed was promptly and properly recorded.
A woman entered into a valid written contract to purchase Blackacre, a large tract of land, from its owner for its fair market value of $50,000. The contract was assignable by the woman. The woman duly notified the owner to convey title to the woman and a friend of the woman whom the woman had not seen for many years.
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However, nearly every land transfer will be preceded by a land sale contract. Parties to these conveyances will sign the land sale contract, which is followed by a gap in time between the actual conveyance of the title to the property. During this gap, parties usually arrange financing and check title. Land sale contracts normally provide a settlement date for the «closing» (passage of title from the owner to the buyer) to occur.
Unless the contract provides otherwise, either party may assign his rights to the property under the contract. A contract for the sale of land is no different from any other contract and thus can be assigned.
To effect an assignment, the assignor must make known his intention to transfer the rights to the third person. The assignor's intention must be that the assignment is effective without the need of any further action or any further manifestation of intention to make the assignment. In other words, the assignor must intend and understand himself to be making the assignment then and there; he is not promising to make the assignment sometime in the future.
For the assignment to become effective, the assignee must manifest his acceptance under most circumstances. This is done automatically when, as is usually the case, the assignee has given consideration for the assignment (i.e., there is a contract between the assignor and the assignee in which the assignment is the assignor's consideration), and then the assignment is not revocable without the assignee's consent. Problems of acceptance normally arise only when the assignor intends the assignment as a gift. Then, for the assignment to be irrevocable, either the assignee must manifest his acceptance or the assignor must notify the assignee in writing of the assignment.
C is correct. Even though the woman intended the friend to receive half of the title to Blackacre through her assignment, that assignment was not effective. Half of the interest will remain with the owner, and half the interest belongs to the woman, because at the time of the closing the friend was dead, so the interest could not be assigned. As explained above, land sale contracts can be assigned just like many other types of contracts. However, assignments require assent, acceptance, and notice. The friend could not properly accept the assignment of this land sale contract because he died before manifesting any kind of acceptance.
A is incorrect. The land sale contract between the owner and the woman was still effective as to the transfer between the owner and the woman. However, the transfer from the owner to the friend was not effective, because the friend is deceased and could not properly manifest his acceptance of the assignment.
B is incorrect. Even though the woman paid for the entire property, she assigned half of the interest to her friend. However, as explained above, that assignment was not effective.
D is incorrect. As explained above, none of the interest in Blackacre passes to the friend, because he was dead at the time of conveyance and could not properly manifest assent to the assignment. Thus, even though the nephew inherits all of his real property, he will not have any interest in Blackacre.