## Facts

- John Blocker, Sr. died leaving a will that (1) gave his widow one-third outright and (2) created life estates in family members with remainders to their respective children.
- The will did not dispose of the ultimate reversion after the life estates and remainders, so the reversion passed by intestacy to the testator’s heirs at law (his adult children, Marguerite and John Blocker, Jr.).
- A parcel of vacant land was subject to the will’s life estate and remainder structure, with the intestate reversion held by Marguerite and John Jr.
- John Jr. conveyed his life estate in his portion of the vacant land to William Hill.
- John Jr. and Marguerite then conveyed the reversionary interest in that same portion to Hill.
- Hill thus held both the life estate and the reversion in the same portion of the land, and a suit in equity sought partition in light of the resulting ownership structure.
- Grandchildren (named remainder beneficiaries) challenged (1) the claimed merger and (2) the ability to partition land allegedly burdened by contingent remainders, including possible interests of unborn descendants.

## Issues

1. Whether a grantee who acquires a life estate and the associated reversion in the same property takes a fee simple by merger, thereby terminating intervening contingent remainders created by will.
2. Whether land may be partitioned in equity when contingent future interests (including potential interests of unborn persons) are asserted.

## Decision

- The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the decree below.
- The court held that Hill’s acquisition of John Jr.’s life estate and the reversionary interest caused a merger into fee simple title in Hill for that portion of the land.
- The court held that the merger extinguished the intervening contingent remainder interests in that portion.
- The court held that the existence of contingent or unborn future interests did not, by itself, bar partition under the circumstances.

## Legal Principles

- When a life estate and the immediately expectant reversion (or remainder) unite in the same person in the same right, the estates may merge into a fee simple unless a legally effective intent or limitation prevents merger.
- A testator’s intent governs construction of a will, but absent clear restraints or contrary directions, the estates created carry ordinary legal incidents, including alienation and merger.
- Property is not automatically immune from partition merely because contingent remainders or potential unborn interests exist; equity may grant partition while accounting for the interests implicated by the title structure.

## Conclusion

The court approved application of the merger doctrine to convert a grantee’s combined life estate and reversion into fee simple title, with resulting destruction of intervening contingent remainders, and permitted partition notwithstanding asserted contingent and unborn future interests.


Blocker v. Blocker, 137 So. 249 (Fla. 1931)