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EPISODE SUMMARY
An estate in land is a present or future ownership interest measured by time. The fee simple absolute is the largest estate, potentially infinite in duration and freely transferable, devisable, and descendible. Traditional language “to A and her heirs” created a fee simple absolute, though modern law usually does not require those words.
The fee tail historically kept land within a family line but has mostly been abolished or converted in American jurisdictions.
Defeasible fees are fee simple estates that may end upon a specified event. A fee simple determinable ends automatically and leaves the grantor with a possibility of reverter. A fee simple subject to condition subsequent does not end automatically; the grantor has a right of entry. A fee simple subject to executory limitation ends automatically in favor of a third party, who holds an executory interest.
A life estate lasts for a person’s life. A life tenant may possess and use the property but may not commit waste. Voluntary waste is affirmative destruction. Permissive waste is neglect. Ameliorative waste is a substantial change, even one that increases value, though modern law is more flexible.
Future interests retained by the grantor include reversions, possibilities of reverter, and rights of entry. Future interests in transferees include vested remainders, contingent remainders, and executory interests. A remainder waits until the natural end of the prior estate. An executory interest cuts short another estate or divests the grantor after a gap.
The Rule Against Perpetuities invalidates certain future interests unless they must vest, if at all, within twenty-one years after a life in being at creation. It mainly applies to contingent remainders, executory interests, and certain class gifts. It generally does not apply to grantor interests or vested remainders.
The key lesson is disciplined parsing. Read conveyances word by word, identify the present estate, identify the future interest, and test remote vesting when required.
