Also known as: estates by curtesy · curtesy estate · curtesy · estate by courtesy
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A life estate that arises by operation of law in favor of a surviving husband in lands of which his wife was seised of an inheritable estate during the marriage. The interest is measured as if the wife had held fee simple absolute but remains subordinate to any remainders, executory interests, possibilities of reverter, or powers of termination that limited her estate.
Elijah Edwards held land under a deed creating a fee simple conditional in his wife Elise Everly. After Elise died without satisfying the condition, Elijah petitioned for a life estate in the property as surviving spouse. The court awarded the life estate measured by fee simple standards but made it subordinate to the executory interest that had restricted Elise's original estate.
Ethan Evans died holding a fee tail in family farmland conveyed to him and the heirs of his body with a reversion to the grantor's estate if the line ended. His surviving spouse Ella Emerson claimed a life estate. The court granted her the interest as if Ethan had held fee simple absolute, yet the interest remained subordinate to the reversion that became possessory upon Ethan's death without issue.
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Enzo Eastwood held land under a fee tail preserved for a single lifetime only. After Enzo died without qualifying issue, his surviving spouse Esther Eisenberg sought curtesy. The court recognized her life estate measured by fee simple standards but expressly subordinated it to the remainder and any executory interest that had limited Enzo's estate from the outset.
A wife received a statutory land grant during marriage and later died. Her surviving husband asserted a life estate in the parcel under curtesy principles. The court held that the grant created an inheritable estate supporting the husband's claim even though the wife had not yet obtained full legal title before her death.
Yes. The surviving spouse receives a life estate measured as if the deceased had held fee simple absolute, though the interest remains subordinate to any remainders or reversions that limited the fee tail.
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The surviving spouse's life estate continues as a burden on the reversion. The reversioner takes subject to the life estate rather than free of it.
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No. The spouse receives the life estate, but it is expressly subordinate to remainders, executory interests, possibilities of reverter, and powers of termination that restricted the deceased spouse's estate.
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No. Subsequent conduct does not alter the estate created by the deed or override the subordination of curtesy to the reversion that became possessory when the fee tail ended.
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…the marriage relation, were gone. A wife divorced has no right of dower in his property; a husband divorced has no right by the curtesy in her lands, unless the statute authorizing the divorce specially confers such right. It follows that the wife was not entitled to the east half of the donation claim. To entitle her to…