Real author Paul Yale

You’re in for a treat today; a report from my Gray Reed partner Paul Yale on the Texas Supreme Court decision, Yowell v. Granite Operating et al, dealing with anti-washout clauses in assignments of overrides and that bane of all first year law students, the Rule Against Perpetuities.  The Court, in Paul’s view, has taken a step back from promoting title certainty by injecting the Cy Pres Doctrine into the already complex body of law pertaining to anti-washout clauses.

Common law defines the Rule Against Perpetuities this way,  No property interest is valid unless it must vest, if at all, within twenty-one years after the death of some life or lives in being at the time of the conveyance.

If you’ve forgotten, or never heard of it, the Cy Pres Doctrine means to reform a document as nearly as possible to confirm with the grantor’s intent.

For more discussion, read on.

And for a musical interlude, listen on.