Property and Trust Law

It can be inferred that the institution of heir's land allows the transfer of property under the terms of __________.

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

Gullah and Geechee culture began on the West Coast of Africa and was brought to America and transformed during the enslavement of African people in America. It is directly related to the African traditional cultures of the Rice and Windward Coast and more specifically, the people of Angola and Sierra Leone, West Africa. Due to isolation on islands off the coast of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, the African people there did not have too much contact with people of other races except Native Americans. Thus, they were able to maintain their culture, language, and traditions unlike African people that were living on the "mainland." This culture is now struggling to survive. The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition works with all efforts to make people aware of this dire situation and to celebrate this rich aspect of African culture in America.

The Gullah communities on the Sea Islands off the southeast coast of the U.S. retained a unique identity of their own before the recent encroachments of tourism and commercialization. The Islands’ history reflected that the area was reserved for freed slaves after the Civil War, which contributed partially in developing the unique identity, associated with the culture of Gullah community. As an almost exclusively black community, the Gullah preserved African traditions concerning family structure and religious practices. At the same time, as a community of ex-slaves, the residents retained several facets of the Southern life they had left behind. This mixture provided a heritage which until recently was strong enough to sustain a vital culture.

The Gullah way of life is exemplified through their art. Gullahs do not create art - for arts sake. Rather, they blend the skill, craftsmanship, and traditional methodologies preserved from past generations of artists. The famous 'sweet grass baskets' vary in style because individual basket makers have their unique hand sewing methods passed down from generation to generation. Basket making has a spiritual sense to it, like most of the elements of Gullah culture. The sewing method is the same method used by their African ancestors, only the tools of the craft have changed with time.

As Patricia Jones-Jackson has pointed out, the basic unit of social life on the Sea Islands, as in West Africa, is the extended family. Since many islands are sectioned off into family communities, kinship ties are important to one's acceptance into the social structure. Membership in the extended family also affects property rights. In the traditional Gullah system, family members do not normally buy land from one another, but acquire it by an unwritten contract known as "heir's land." Rules pertaining to marriage seem to be at least as broad in scope. Common-law marriages are considered as legitimate as marriages recorded by contract under law. Indeed, the infrequent occurrence of divorce and separation within the Sea Island communities demonstrates the strong cohesion of Gullah marital and familial institutions.

Today, the descendants of West Africans brought in bondage to the coastal islands of South Carolina and Georgia, are striving to preserve a way of life. Gullah is more than simply the language and name of a people. It encompasses the essence of struggle, spirituality, perseverance and tradition. The Native Island Gullah people adhere to the customs of their ancestors through the sewing of sweet grass baskets, the weaving of casting nets and the preparation of traditional Gullah foods.

Unlike the laws and customs relating to family structure, the religious practices of the Sea Islanders, on the surface at least, bespeak a U. S. heritage. Depending on the village, a Baptist or Methodist church acts as an essential social institution. Yet, in contrast to the dualistic body-soul approach to the individual found in Christian teaching, the Gullah believe that a person has an earthly body, a soul that returns upon death to the Divine Kingdom, and a separate spiritual entity that can remain on Earth and influence the lives of those still living. This belief in a "body spirit" is prevalent among West African peoples, according to Jones-Jackson. She also notes the African influences on the interaction between the minister and the congregation: The prayers and sermons "embody a classical, Ciceronian rhetorical style and employ sophistic ornaments capable of divinely inspiring and passionately persuading a congregation to respond with raucous and joyous replies."

The connection between the Gullah and the people of Sierra Leone is a very special one. Sierra Leone has always had a small population, and Sierra Leonean slaves were always greatly outnumbered on the plantations by slaves from more populous parts of Africa - except in South Carolina and Georgia. The rice plantation zone of coastal South Carolina and Georgia was the only place in the Americas where Sierra Leonean slaves came together in large enough numbers and over a long enough period of time to leave a significant linguistic and cultural impact. While Nigerians may point to Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti as places where Nigerian culture is still evident, Sierra Leoneans can look to the Gullah* of South Carolina and Georgia as a kindred people sharing many common elements of speech, custom, culture, and cuisine.

It is a people, a language, and a culture that have survived through years of slavery, oppression and development. Even today, Sierra Leoneans can look to the Gullah of South Carolina and Georgia as a kindred people sharing many common elements of speech, custom, culture and cuisine.

Directions: The short passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

All over India tenants from all walks of life and particularly bureaucrats and politicians have bought their rented premises from the owners for a pittance in distress sale. Who is the gainer? Only the treacherous tenants. If an inquiry is ordered in all such cases the Government can gain millions of rupees by correctly assessing the market price and then charge the transfer fees. These laws have created mind boggling black money in the shape of pagri. There is no need for any rent laws. No person should occupy or continue to occupy any premises without a proper agreement with the owner. Unauthorized occupation should be made a criminal offence just as bouncing of cheques has been made. The police should be given the powers as in the USA to throw out the belongings of a person who is an unauthorized occupant.

The passage is

Smith asserted that property held-in-common that is, usable by every co-owner, would always be used less carefully than private property. Each owner would be inclined to overuse the property held-in-common because the gains would come to the individual alone, while the costs of maintenance that result from overuse would be spread among all co-owners. But a survey comparing 800 properties held-in-common with 1590 private properties showed that the properties held-in-common were in a better condition.

The answer to which of the following questions would be most useful in evaluating the significance, in relation to Smith’s claim, of the survey described above?

Directions: Smith asserted that property held-in-common that is, usable by every co-owner, would always be used less carefully than private property. Each owner would be inclined to overuse the property held-in-common because the gains would come to the individual alone, while the costs of maintenance that result from overuse would be spread among all co-owners. But a survey comparing 800 properties held-in-common with 1590 private properties showed that the properties held-in-common were in a better condition.

Which of the following, if true, and known by the owners of properties, would best help explain the results of the survey?

According to the existing property tax law, if you had purchased your property 14 years ago for INR 5,00,000 your tax would be INR 12,100 a year (2 percent of INR 5,00,000 increased by 10 percent every five years); and if someone else purchased a similar property in your neighborhood for INR 30,00,000 this year, his tax would be INR 60, 000 (2 percent of INR 30,00,000). Without the existing property tax law, both you and your neighbor would pay INR 1,50, 000 a year in property taxes (5 percent of INR 30,00,000). Which of the following is the conclusion for which the author most likely is arguing in the passage above?