Also known as: first takers · first-taker · first-takers
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
The initial grantee who receives an estate of potentially infinite duration. The estate passes only to that grantee's lineal descendants when the grant limits succession to issue of the first taker.
Felicity French receives a deed conveying land to her and the heirs of her body. She is the first taker. When Felicity dies survived by her son, the son takes the land in fee simple absolute under the limitation to issue of the first taker.
Finn Fletcher's crew kills and anchors a whale with clear marks of appropriation before leaving it overnight. Finn is the first taker. When another ship finds the anchored whale the next day, Finn's crew retains ownership because the first taker secured the property.
The libellant lives in Provincetown and the respondent lives in Wellfleet. The libellant has been engaged in this business for ten years past. On the morning of April 9, 1880, in Massachusetts bay, near the end of Cape Cod, the libellant shot and instantly killed with a bomb-lance the whale in question. The whale sunk immediately. On the morning of the 12th the whale was found stranded on the beach in Brewster, within the ebb and flow of the tide, by one Ellis, 17 miles from the spot where it was killed. Instead of sending word to Provincetown, as is customary, Ellis advertised the whale for sale at auction, and sold it to the respondent, who shipped off the blubber and tried out the oil. The libellant heard of the finding of the whale on the morning of the 15th, and immediately sent one of his boat's crew to the place and claimed it. Neither the respondent nor Ellis knew the whale had been killed by the libellant, but they knew or might have known, if they had wished, that it had been shot and killed with a bomb-lance, by some person engaged in this species of business. This is a libel to recover the value of a fin-back whale. In the early spring months the easterly part of Massachusetts bay is frequented by the species of whale known as the fin-back whale. Fishermen from Provincetown pursue them in open boats from the shore, and shoot them with bomb-lances fired from guns made expressly for the purpose. When killed they sink at once to the bottom, but in the course of from one to three days they rise and float on the surface. Each boat's crew engaged in the business has its peculiar mark or device on its lances, and in this way it is known by whom a whale is killed.
View caseThe first taker is the initial grantee named in the deed or will who receives the estate limited to that person's issue. The Restatement treats the first taker as holding an estate of potentially infinite duration that passes only to lineal descendants.
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The estate ends because succession is confined to issue of the first taker. Any attempted gift over on an indefinite failure of issue is void, leaving the first taker with a fee simple absolute that passes by other rules of descent.
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Many jurisdictions convert the language into a fee simple absolute in the issue while preserving the first taker's interest as more than a life estate. The first taker therefore holds an estate that supports long-term conveyances and leases.
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…anchorage. The learned judge says: “When the whale had been killed and taken possession of by the boat of the Hillman, (the first taker,) it became the property of the owners of that ship, and all was done which was then practicable in order to secure it. They left it anchored, with unequivocal marks of appropriation.” In…