Section 477:3-b Limitations on Possibilities of Reverter, Rights of Re-entry, and Executory Interests.

NEW HAMPSHIRE STATUTES AND CODES

Section 477:3-b Limitations on Possibilities of Reverter, Rights of Re-entry, and Executory Interests.

   I. This section applies only to legal future interests in real property created by deed, will, or power of appointment and not to any beneficial interests created by or through trusts. This section shall not apply to rights of forfeiture or re-entry held by lessors or mortgagees, nor to conveyances of standing trees governed by RSA 477:35-a or RSA 477:35-b, nor to options to purchase real estate, whatever their form.
   II. (a) After December 31, 2008, no legal possibility of reverter, right of re-entry, or executory interest in real property may be retained or created unless either the grantor or the grantee is a public or charitable organization. Any language purporting to retain or create such a future interest shall be void. Language which also creates a covenant may be enforced as such by an action at law or equity but without forfeiture.
      (b) For purposes of this section, an organization is public or charitable if it is:
         (1) The state of New Hampshire.
         (2) A political subdivision or municipal corporation of the state of New Hampshire.
         (3) A corporation organized under RSA 292, a religious organization, or a not-for-profit corporation chartered by act of the New Hampshire general court or United States Congress.
         (4) A nonprofit organization qualified under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States, as amended.
         (5) A trustee as defined in RSA 7:21, VIII.
   III. Renewal declarations shall be required in certain cases.
      (a) Unless the original grantor or grantee of the interest was, or the present owner of the interest is, a public or charitable organization, any existing possibility of reverter, right of re-entry, or executory interest in real property shall become void unless renewal declarations are filed in the appropriate registry of deeds as hereinafter provided. Covenants as such are not subject to renewal and remain enforceable by an action at law or equity but without forfeiture.
      (b) Times of filing future interests under this section shall be as follows:
         (1) A declaration of renewal of an existing possibility of reverter, right of re-entry, or executory interest in real property that was retained by or granted to a natural person need not be recorded while owned by that person. Any subsequent heir, devisee, grantee, creditor, or other successor to such interest shall record a declaration within 3 years after acquiring it or the interest shall become void.
         (2) A declaration of renewal of an existing possibility of reverter, right of re-entry, or executory interest in real property other than those retained by or granted to a natural person shall be filed on or before January 2, 2011, and if such declaration is not filed within such time, the interest shall become void.
         (3) A declaration shall be recorded once in every 25 years after the initial declaration is filed, and any interest for which such a declaration is not filed shall become void 25 years after the filing of the last renewal declaration.
      (c) A declaration shall be signed and acknowledged by the declarant in the same manner as a deed and contain:
         (1) A statement that the declarant owns all or part of a future interest reserved or created by a specified instrument and the declarant's current mailing address.
         (2) The date of that instrument and the book and page, probate file, or other specific place where the instrument is recorded.
         (3) The names of the owner or owners of the property rights subject to the future interest as of the time the declaration is filed.
      (d) Each declaration shall be indexed in the grantor index under the name or names of the persons stated therein to be the owners of the property right subject to the future interest at the time of filing.
      (e) The original declaration shall be returned to the declarant after recording in the same manner as a deed.
      (f) A declaration which is actually recorded and correctly indexed shall be effective despite failure to name all present owners of the property subject to the future interest so long as at least one owner was correctly identified.
      (g) The fee for filing a declaration shall be the same as for a deed.
   IV. Unclaimed future interests of defunct public or charitable organizations shall be treated in the following manner: Whenever it shall appear that a public or charitable organization holding a possibility of reverter, right of re-entry, or executory interest has been defunct for more than 3 years with no successor to the future interest provided for or action commenced to determine a successor, the director of charitable trusts shall either commence such an action or, if it appears to be in the public interest, release the future interest to the owners of the underlying estate, with or without conditions.