Illustrations of The Rule Against Perpetuities

Illustrations Of The Rule Against Perpetuities

The fertile octogenarian and the unborn widow are two legal fictions from the law of real property (and trusts) that can be used either to invoke the rule against perpetuities to make an interest in property void or, alternatively and much more frequently, to demonstrate the seemingly bizarre results that can occur as a result of the rule. The rule itself, simply stated, makes a future interest in property void if it can be logically proven that there is some possibility of the interest failing to vest within 21 years after the end of a life in being at the time the interest is created.