Also known as: fee simple titles · fee simple · fee-simple title
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An estate of potentially infinite duration that passes by inheritance to the grantee's heirs. The estate arises from a conveyance containing words of general inheritance and remains subject only to any special limitations, conditions subsequent, or executory limitations expressly imposed.
Fatima Flores conveyed coastal land to Francesca Fiore using language granting an estate of potentially infinite duration but adding that title would shift to a third party if the land ceased to be used for maritime storage. Francesca occupied the land and recorded the deed. When she later converted the property to residential use, the executory limitation activated and title passed automatically to the designated successor.
A city held land in fee simple title subject to a trust requiring racially restricted use. After a court order ended the restriction, the trust terminated under neutral state law and the land reverted to the original grantor's heirs rather than remaining with the city.
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A city condemned parcels held in fee simple title by private owners and transferred the land to a private developer for economic redevelopment. The owners retained no interest after the taking, and the developer received full fee simple title subject only to the public purpose justification.
A grantor attempted to limit a conveyance to a life estate measured by the grantee's enjoyment but included words of inheritance. The court treated the conveyance as passing fee simple title because the language created an inheritable estate rather than one ending with a single life.
Co-owners held inherited land in fee simple title under an intestate succession statute. One co-owner petitioned for partition by sale. The court ordered an appraisal of the full fee simple estate and divided proceeds among all heirs according to their fractional interests.
A city held a public pool in fee simple title and closed it after a desegregation order. The closure ended public access without transferring title, leaving the city as the continuing owner of the fee simple estate subject only to equal-protection constraints on future operation.
Words of general inheritance such as "and his heirs" or "in fee simple" create fee simple title when the conveyance otherwise lacks limiting conditions. The Restatement requires these words to pass an inheritable estate of potentially infinite duration.
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Fee simple title is absolute unless the grant expressly adds a special limitation, condition subsequent, or executory limitation. A defeasible fee remains fee simple but ends or shifts upon the stated event.
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Yes. The owner of fee simple title may convey the entire estate or create lesser interests such as easements or life estates. The transfer carries whatever quantum of estate the grantor holds.
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Yes. Once the required issue is born, the holder gains full power to alienate the estate as if it were fee simple absolute, including creation of perpetual interests.
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…of) value. In any event, we avoid this difficulty in the present case, since the "interest in land" that Lucas has pleaded (a fee simple interest) is an estate with a rich tradition of protection at common law, and since the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas found that the Beachfront Management Act left each of Lucas's…