The George Clooney character in The Descendants is under pressure to sell extremely valuable Hawaiian land held in trust for his family for over a hundred years because if he doesn't act soon the trust will terminate with the property being distributed outright to dozens of family members. They might never agree among themselves on what to do with the property without expensive and extensive litigation.
The reason the trust will end? The "rule against perpetuities," the bugaboo of many a first-year law student.
