HB1130 -- Codification of the Rule Against Perpetuities

I'm assisting the Commission on Uniform State Laws in an attempt to codify the Rule Against Perpetuities in Arkansas. You can find my bill by clicking here. I was approached on this matter by local lawyer Leroy Autrey as well as Phil Carroll (retired partner with the Rose Firm in Little Rock). Also helping has been my former professor Lynn Foster with the UALR Bowen School of Law.

The Rule Against Perpetuities is the principle that no clause in a conveyance, be it a deed or a will or whatever, is valid unless it vests within the life of someone currently living plus twenty-one years, measured from time of conveyance (date of sale, death of testator, etc.). If, under some circumstance, you might not be able to figure out who gets the property by that time, just strike it out as if it wasn't written. It is somewhat complicated, and most lawyers can't remember it a few days after the bar exam. I wish I had had this to carry into my final exam in Real Property: