Sunday, March 12, 2006

Soul for Sale

Yeah, so I'm in Law School. But some guy is literally selling his soul. Hey, does God have standing to file suit claiming that Mr. Mehta can't sell his soul? I can see it now. God conveys to Mehta, for life, his soul. Since this is a life estate, does the soul revert to God after Mehta's life? Or is this a fee simple, such that the soul would go to Mehta's heirs after his death? Or is this a conveyance for perpetuity? If so, would it violate the rule against perpetuities? Since this is going to Mehta, and Mehta only, it should vest immediately, so probably not. Also, is Mehta allowed to convey it, by gift or sale, to someone else? You can't convey an interest larger than your own, so Mehta can at least convey his soul for the term of his life; but if he owns nothing more than a life estate, he can't convey anything beyond that. So if Henderson thinks he bought Mehta's eternal soul, but did not in fact get anything more than a claim for Mehta's lifetime, does he have a cause of action for fraud, or maybe breach of implied warranty that the soul was free of encumbrances?

Too much law school for me.

(Hat-tip: RaceBoy)

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