Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Publication
Adelaide Law Review
Volume
40
Abbreviation
Adel. L. Rev.
First Page
155
Abstract
From the point of view of an American lawyer, two Australian innovations in the law of property stand out: titles by registration and the dispensing power in the law of wills. Both originated in South Australia, and both are the subject of articles in the Adelaide Law Review. Both spread rapidly to other Australian states and throughout the Commonwealth. But in the United States, despite some early success, neither achieved widespread adoption. Readers of the Adelaide Law Review, who doubtless view titles by registration and the dispensing power as obvious improvements on earlier property law, may be surprised by American exceptionalism. But in both cases the new entrants encountered entrenched practices which, while seemingly less eligible, nonetheless successfully resisted displacement.