Also known as: absolute properties · absolute ownership
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An estate or interest in property that confers full and complete title and control without limitation in duration or condition. The interest is unlimited in time and is not subject to any future interest or condition that would cut it short.
Ralph devised his rural homestead to his niece Carla in full ownership with only a precatory wish that she keep space for his truck. After Ralph died, other devisees argued that Carla's interest ended if she stopped driving trucks. The court ruled that Carla received absolute property because the will used language of unlimited duration and contained no express condition or future interest that would terminate her estate.
College Savings Bank sued a state agency for false advertising over a savings program. The agency asserted Eleventh Amendment immunity. The Court held that the bank's interest in its business goodwill did not rise to absolute property protected against unconsented suits because the right was a civil claim rather than a vested ownership interest.
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The City of Chicago opened a street across land owned by the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad. The railroad claimed the taking destroyed the full value of its right of way. The Court awarded compensation measured by the land's value as taken, confirming that the railroad held absolute property in the strip subject only to the constitutional requirement of just compensation.
Green Bay Company built a dam that permanently flooded Pumpelly's land. Pumpelly sued for a taking of his entire parcel. The Court recognized that Pumpelly held absolute property in the land and that the flooding constituted a compensable appropriation of that ownership interest.
Hannah found a brooch hidden in a house owned by Peel. Peel claimed the brooch as part of the realty. The court awarded Hannah absolute property in the brooch because she had reduced it to possession before Peel asserted any superior title.
A chimney sweep found a jewel inside a chimney and took it to a goldsmith for appraisal. The goldsmith refused to return it. The court held that the sweep acquired absolute property in the jewel by finding and possessing it, giving him a superior claim against anyone but the true owner.
Absolute property is an estate of unlimited duration that is not subject to any condition or future interest that can cut it short. A defeasible fee, by contrast, is expressly limited so that it ends automatically or may be terminated upon the occurrence of a stated event.
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Yes. A devise using words such as in full ownership passes a fee simple absolute unless the instrument contains express conditional language that limits duration or creates a future interest in another person.
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Yes. When parties intend an absolute deed only as security for a debt, equity treats the instrument as a mortgage. The grantor retains an equitable right to redeem once the debt is paid, so the grantee does not hold absolute property.
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…"Nor can it make any difference that the right is purchased previous to the passage of the by-law," for "[e]very right, from an absolute ownership in property, down to a mere easement, is purchased and holden subject to the restriction, that it shall be so exercised as not to injure others. Though, at the time, it be remote and…