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Property Law Keyed to Dukeminier
Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States
Citation:
572 U.S. 93 (2014)Facts
In 1908, the Laramie, Hahn’s Peak & Pacific Railroad (LHP&P) obtained a right-of-way through public lands in Wyoming under the General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875. In 1976, the United States patented an 83-acre parcel of land in Fox Park, Wyoming, to Melvin and Lulu Brandt, with the patent stating that the land was granted subject to the railroad’s right-of-way. The patent also included a clause reserving to the United States “all minerals” and rights-of-way for ditches and canals. In 1986, the railroad’s successor abandoned the right-of-way, and in 2006, the United States filed a quiet title action, claiming that it retained a reversionary interest in the abandoned right-of-way. The Brandts, now represented by the Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust, contested this claim, asserting that the right-of-way was merely an easement that terminated upon abandonment, leaving them with unencumbered title to their land.
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