Also known as: curtesy · tenancy by the curtesy · estate by curtesy · tenancy by curtesy
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A common-law life estate granted to a surviving husband in all freehold lands of which his wife was seised during the marriage provided a child was born alive capable of inheriting.
Emanuel Escobar held land under a deed creating a fee simple conditional. After Emanuel died, his surviving spouse Edith Eberhardt petitioned for a life estate measured as if the holding had been fee simple absolute. The court awarded the life estate but made it subordinate to the executory interest that had restricted Emanuel's original title.
Esther Eisenberg held land in fee tail with a remainder in her brother's descendants. After Esther died, her surviving spouse Ewan Eckhart claimed a life estate calculated as though Esther had owned fee simple absolute. The court recognized the life estate but held it subordinate to the remainder and any executory limitation attached to the fee tail.
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Edward Everett held land in a fee tail preserved for a single lifetime only. After Edward died, his surviving spouse Elliot Edmonds sought a life estate measured by fee simple standards. The court granted the life estate subject to the remainder and any executory interest or reversion that had limited the original estate.
The husband must survive his wife and a child capable of inheriting must have been born alive during the marriage. The wife must have been seised of an inheritable freehold estate during coverture.
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The surviving husband receives the same life estate that would arise if the wife had held fee simple absolute. The interest remains subordinate to any remainder, executory interest, possibility of reverter, or reversion that limited the fee tail.
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Yes. The surviving spouse's life estate is expressly made subordinate to executory interests, possibilities of reverter, powers of termination, and reversions that restricted the deceased spouse's estate and were never destroyed.
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The estates of dower and curtesy have been abolished in most American jurisdictions. A few states retain modified forms of marital life estates.
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…exempted it from all liability for his debts. The reasons assigned were (1) because the possibility of interest as tenant by the curtesy in case of his surviving her was not the subject-matter of a lien; (2) because he had lost his jure uxoris during her life; and (3) because to give the judgment against him a lien would…