Also known as: feodum simpliciter · fee simple
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An estate of potentially infinite duration that passes to the grantee's heirs upon death. The estate arises when a conveyance uses words of inheritance such as to a named person and his or her heirs without any limiting condition that would cut the interest short.
Maria executes a recorded deed conveying a vacant lot to her nephew Liam and his heirs in fee. Liam begins constructing a townhouse on the lot. Maria sues claiming the property reverts because Liam abandoned park use. The court holds that Liam holds feodum simplex because the deed language alone determines the estate and contains no limiting condition.
Lord Fairfax's estate in the Northern Neck is conveyed by letters patent to patentees their heirs and assigns forever. After the original owner's death the interest descends through successive generations. The court recognizes that the original grant created feodum simplex that continues indefinitely through inheritance.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The United States grants a right of way to a railroad company. Decades later the railroad abandons the line. The Brandt Trust claims the land reverts to it as successor to the original fee owner. The Supreme Court holds that the original grant conveyed only an easement while the underlying fee remained feodum simplex in the grantor.
Weedon conveys land to Baker for life with a remainder to her heirs. Baker claims the conveyance created feodum simplex because the remainder language is ineffective. The court rules that the explicit life-estate language prevents creation of feodum simplex and Baker holds only a life estate.
The City of Chicago condemns a strip of land owned by the railroad. The railroad argues the taking is limited to an easement. The Supreme Court holds that the railroad's interest is feodum simplex and the city must pay full compensation for the fee.
Boswell and Tenhet acquire land as joint tenants. Tenhet dies and Boswell claims the entire fee by right of survivorship. The court holds that each joint tenant held feodum simplex and the survivorship right operates on that fee simple interest.
Words of inheritance such as to B and his heirs or to B in fee simple create the estate when the conveyance contains no limiting condition. The Restatement requires that the instrument itself supply the words of general inheritance.
No. The nature of the estate is determined solely from the language of the recorded deed. A private remark that the land should revert if used for another purpose does not alter the fee simple created by the deed's operative words.
Yes. Language limiting succession to bodily issue is ineffective for a corporate grantee. The conveyance operates as a fee simple because the corporation cannot satisfy the bodily-heir requirement.
No. A possibility of reverter retained by the grantor is categorically exempt from the rule. Only future interests created in transferees are subject to the rule.
…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…