{"id":8460,"date":"2017-11-19T02:32:43","date_gmt":"2017-11-19T02:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reunitethestates.org\/?page_id=8460"},"modified":"2018-06-13T13:00:05","modified_gmt":"2018-06-13T13:00:05","slug":"fee-simple","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/reunitethestates.org\/?page_id=8460","title":{"rendered":"fee (simple absolute) – the broadest real property interest (estate in land) allowed by law; exclusive, hereditable ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0This page is continued from\u00a0Property<\/a>>>>>\u00a0Interest<\/a>\u00a0>>>> Estate<\/a>\u00a0>>>> Estates in Land<\/a>\u00a0>>>> Freehold Estate (Interest)<\/a>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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fee simple absolute<\/span>:<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\n(18c)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. An estate<\/a>\u00a0of indefinite or potentially infinite duration (e.g., \u201cto Albert and his heirs\u201d).<\/strong> \u2014 Often shortened to<\/span> fee simple<\/strong><\/em> <\/span>or fee<\/em><\/strong><\/span>. \u2014 aka fee simple absolute in possession<\/span><\/strong><\/em>. [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> A<\/strong>\u00a0fee simple<\/strong><\/span>. [2]<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Same as fee simple<\/span>.<\/strong> [3]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from Thomas F. Bergin and Paul G. Haskell’s<\/span>\u00a0Preface to Estates In Land and Future Interests<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(2d ed. 1984):<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201c<\/span>Although it is probably good practice to use the word ‘absolute\u2019 whenever one is referring to an estate in fee simple that is free of special limitation, condition subsequent, or executory limitation, lawyers frequently refer to such an estate as a \u2018fee simple’ or even as a \u2018fee.\u2019<\/span>“<\/strong> [2]<\/span><\/p>\n

fee simple<\/span>:<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\n(15c)<\/span><\/p>\n

1. An interest in land that, being the broadest property interest allowed by law, endures until the current holder dies without heirs; especially, a fee simple absolute<\/span>.\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014\u00a0<\/span>Often shortened to<\/span> fee<\/strong><\/em><\/span>. \u2014 ak<\/span>a estate in fee simple<\/strong><\/em><\/span>;\u00a0<\/span>tenancy in fee<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; fee-simple title<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; exclusive ownership<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; feudum simplex<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; estate in fee<\/span><\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0See AND HIS HEIRS. [1]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. The largest estate in land<\/a><\/span> known to the law and implying absolute dominion over the land; an estate of inheritance clear of any condition, limitation, or restriction, to particular heirs. 28 Am J2d Est\u00a0\u00a7 10<\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

An estate<\/a>\u00a0of lawful inheritance or pure inheritance, “fee” standing for inheritance and “simple” for pure or lawful. \u00a0A legal or equitable estate in land constituting the largest estate and implying absolute dominion, although\u00a0<\/span>possibly<\/span>\u00a0subject\u00a0to executory limitations or conditions subsequent. <\/span><\/span>Hay’s Estate v Commissioner<\/em> (CA5) 181 F2d 169<\/span>; <\/span><\/span>39 ALR2d 453<\/span>; <\/span><\/span>Ford v Unity Church Society<\/em>, 120 Mo 498, 25 SW 394<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/strong> [2]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1. Also known as fee simple absolute; the most complete estate in land<\/a><\/span> known to the law. \u00a0it signifies total ownership and control. \u00a0it may be inherited free of any condition, limitation, or restriction by particular heirs.<\/span><\/strong>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Compare fee tail<\/em>. \u00a0See estate of inheritance<\/em>. [3]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from Peter Butt’s\u00a0Land Law<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(2d ed. 1988):<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201c[Fee simple] is a term not likely to be found in modern conversation between laymen, who would in all probability find it quite unintelligible.\u00a0 Yet to a layman of the 14th century the term would have been perfectly intelligible, for it refers to the elementary social relationship of feudalism with which he was fully familiar: the words \u2018fee\u2019 and \u2018feudal\u2019 are closely related. . . . The estate in fee simple is the largest estate known to the law, ownership of such\u00a0<\/span><\/span>an estate being the nearest approach to ownership of the land itself which is consonant with the feudal principle of\u00a0<\/span>tenure.\u00a0 It is \u2018the most comprehensive estate in land<\/a><\/span> which the law recognizes\u2019; it is the \u2018most extensive in quantum, and the most absolute in respect to the rights which it confers, of all estates known to the law.\u2019\u00a0 Traditionally, the\u00a0<\/span>fee simple has two distinguishing features:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

first<\/em>, the owner ( \u2018tenant\u2019 in fee simple) has the power to dispose of the fee simple, either inter vivos or by will;<\/strong><\/span>
\nsecond<\/em>, on intestacy the fee simple descends, in the absence of lineal heirs, to collateral heirs \u2014 to a brother, for example, if there is no issue.<\/span>\u201d<\/strong> [3]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from Robert E. Megarry & M.P. Thompson’s\u00a0A Manual of the Law of Real Property<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(6th ed. 1993):<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cFee simple.\u00a0 Originally this was an estate which endured for as long as the original tenant or any of his heirs survived. \u2018Heirs\u2019 comprised any blood relations, although originally ancestors were excluded; not until the Inheritance Act 1833 could a person be the heir of one of his descendants.\u00a0 Thus at first a fee simple would terminate if the original tenant died without leaving any descendants or collateral blood relations (e.g., brothers or cousins), even if before his death the land had been conveyed to another tenant who was still\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong>alive.\u00a0 But by 1306 it was settled that where a tenant in fee simple alienated the land, the fee simple would continue as long as there were heirs of the new tenant and so on, irrespective of any failure of the original tenant’s heirs. Thenceforward a fee simple was virtually eternal.<\/span>“<\/strong> [4]<\/span><\/p>\n

fee<\/span>:<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. A heritable interest in land; especially, a fee simple absolute.<\/strong> \u2014 aka<\/span> fee estate<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; feod<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; feodum<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; feud<\/strong><\/em><\/span>;\u00a0<\/span>feudum<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; fief<\/strong>. <\/span><\/em>[1]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>An estate in real property, which, unless qualified by additional terminology, is an estate in inheritance where the tenant is not only entitled to enjoy the land for his own life, but where, after his death, it is cast by law upon the persons who successfully represent him in perpetuum in right of blood, according to a certain established order of descent. 19 Am 12d Est \u00a7 8<\/span>. Often used as a synonym of fee simple.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The word was originally used in contradistinction to the word \u201callodium,\u201d and signifies that which was held of another, on condition of rendering him a service. \u00a0And although the word is now generally used to express the quantum of the estate, it is also used to designate a fee simple. Hay\u2019s Estate v Commissioner<\/em> (CA5) 181 PM 169, 39 ALR2d 453<\/span>; Wendell v Crandall<\/em>, 1 NY 491, 495<\/span>.
\n<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0See conditional fee<\/em>; determinable fee<\/em>; fee tail<\/em>. [2]<\/span><\/p>\n

1. An estate in real property that may be inherited (USAGE: “Robin holds her land in fee; Lee has a fee inerest in his farm.”) \u00a0When “fee” is used without words of limitation (for EXAMPLE: base fee, conditional fee, determinable fee, or qualified fee), it\u00a0<\/span>always<\/span>\u00a0means fee simple.<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0See estate of inheritance<\/em>. \u00a0Compare estate less than freehold<\/em>; estate of freehold not of inheritance<\/em>. [3]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from Thomas F. Bergin & Paul G. Haskell’s<\/span>\u00a0Preface to Estates in\u00a0<\/em><\/a>Land and Future Interests<\/em>\u00a0(2d ed. .1984):<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cTo enfeoff someone was to transfer to him an interest in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>land called a fief \u2014 or, if you prefer, a feoff<\/em>, feod<\/em>, or feud<\/em>. Our modern word fee<\/em>, a direct lineal descendant of fief<\/em>,\u00a0<\/span>implies the characteristic of potentially infinite duration when used to describe an interest in land today; but in the\u00a0<\/span>earliest part of the feudal period, in a fief might have been as small as a life interest.\u00a0 We shall. see later that feoffment<\/em> was not used to transfer interests \u2018smaller\u2019 than life\u00a0<\/span>interests: e.g., so-called terms for years<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 but for our purposes now we may simply note that transfers of interests\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong>for life or \u2018larger\u2019 were accomplished by livery of seisin.<\/span>\u201d<\/strong> [5]<\/span><\/p>\n

estate ad remanentiam<\/strong><\/span> (ad rem-a-nen-shee-am)<\/em> – An estate in fee simple.\u00a0<\/strong>[1]<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Various Types of Qualified Fee:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

base fee<\/span><\/a> – base fee (estate, tenancy) – a hereditable estate\u00a0in land that may last forever, but with a qualification (limitation) annexed to it which terminates such interest if a certain event(s) occurs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u2014 <\/span><\/em>aka<\/span><\/span> determinable fee<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/em>;\u00a0limited fee<\/strong><\/span>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

fee simple defeasible<\/span><\/a> – an estate that ends because there are no more heirs of the person to whom it is granted or because a special limitation, condition subsequent, or executory limitation takes effect.\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 aka<\/span>\u00a0defeasible fee simple<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; qualified fee<\/span><\/strong><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

fee simple determinable<\/span><\/a> – an estate that will automatically end and revert to the grantor if some specified event occurs.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 aka determinable fee<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; qualified fee<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; fee simple subject to common-law limitation<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; fee simple subject to special limitation<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; fee simple subject to special interest<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; base fee<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; estate on limitation<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

quasi-fee<\/span><\/a> – an estate in fee acquired wrongfully.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

fee simple conditional<\/span><\/a> – an estate conveyed to a man conditionally upon his having an heir.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

fee simple subject to a condition subsequent<\/span><\/a> – an estate subject to the grantor\u2019s power to end the estate if some specified event happens.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

fee simple subject to an executory limitation<\/span> <\/strong>– (1856) <\/span><\/span>A fee simple defeasible that is subject to divestment i favor of someone other than the grantor if a\u00a0<\/span>specified<\/span>\u00a0event happens (e.g., \u201cto Albert and his heirs, but if t n\u00a0property is ever used as a parking lot, then to Bob\u201d).<\/span><\/span><\/strong> \u2014 aka\u00a0<\/span><\/span>fee simple subject to an executory interest<\/span><\/strong><\/em>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

arriere fee<\/span><\/a> – a fee dependent on a superior one; a subfief.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u2014 aka<\/span>\u00a0arriere fief<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

fee tail<\/span><\/a> – a<\/strong><\/span> legal<\/a> or equitable estate<\/a><\/span> in lands that is heritable only by specified descendants of the original grantee, enduring until its current holder dies without issue, at which time it reverts to the original donor or his heirs.<\/span><\/strong><\/span> \u2014 aka\u00a0entailed estate<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; estate tail<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; estate in tail<\/strong><\/em><\/span>; estate in fee tail<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; tenancy in tail<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; entail<\/span><\/strong><\/em>; feodum talliatum<\/span><\/strong><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n