What is the Rule of Convenience?

Hypo 1: Oz conveys Blackacre "to Amy's children that pass the bar exam." Amy has 3 children: Bob, Carl, and Dan. Bob is the oldest and finishes law school first. While Carl begins law school, Bob passes the bar. Three years later, Carl graduates from law school and also passes the bar. Dan decides he also wants to go to law school. Carl demands a distribution of his share of Blackacre. Result: Blackacre will be divided between Bob and Carl, the only children of Amy who passed the bar exam. Sure, Dan wanted to also pass the bar exam, and he likely would have if he had time (especially if he used Bar Prep Buddy -- tell your friends!), but the Rule of Convenience allows any member of the class who is entitled to a share of the class gift to call for their distribution whenever they want. Here, Bob could have closed the class immediately when he passed the bar exam and owned 100% of Blackacre, but he didn't. Instead, Carl closed the class.

Hypo 2: Oz conveys Blackacre "to Amy for life, then to Bob's children." Bob has two children. Result: The class will definitively close when Bob dies and can no longer have children, but it can also close (under the Rule of Convenience) the moment Amy dies and either of Bob's children call for their distribution. This would effectively divide Blackacre between Bob's existing children and deprive any later children of a share. PLEASE NOTE: There is something called the "womb rule," which means a not-yet born fetus that existed at the time of the distribution would also be entitled to a share. So if Bob's wife is pregnant when one of his two born children call for a distribution, Blackacre would be divided 3-ways.