Also known as: possibilities of reverter
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A reversionary interest subject to a condition precedent. The interest remains in the transferor after conveyance of a fee simple determinable and becomes possessory only if the stated limiting event occurs.
Paige Porter conveyed Blackacre to Preston Pratt so long as the land remained farmland. When Preston later built a shopping center, Paige's retained interest automatically ripened into possession because the limiting event had occurred. The court recognized that Paige held the future interest created by the condition precedent in the original deed.
Pavel Petrov conveyed land to his son in fee simple conditional. After the son died without issue and with no executory interest holder, the interest passed to the person entitled under the possibility of reverter. Pavel's heirs therefore took possession under that retained future interest.
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Portia Price held a fee tail estate subject to a possibility of reverter in favor of the original grantor. Upon Portia's death her surviving spouse claimed dower, but the court held that claim subordinate to the possibility of reverter that restricted the estate.
Phuong Pham conveyed land creating a fee tail preserved for a single lifetime only. After the grantee's death the surviving spouse sought curtesy, yet the court subordinated that claim to the possibility of reverter retained by the original transferor.
Paul Peterson held a fee simple conditional when he died. His surviving spouse claimed curtesy in the land, but the court ruled the claim subordinate to the possibility of reverter that had restricted the estate and had not been destroyed by any prior transfer.
Prime Logistics acquired land subject to a railroad right of way that the United States had granted decades earlier. When the railroad abandoned the line, the court held that the possibility of reverter retained by the original grantor caused title to revert automatically rather than leaving an easement in place.
A possibility of reverter is a reversionary interest subject to a condition precedent, whereas a reversion is a reversionary interest not subject to any condition precedent. The distinction turns on whether the retained interest follows a determinable estate or an estate that ends naturally.
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No. Retained future interests in the transferor, including a possibility of reverter following a fee simple determinable, are categorically exempt from the rule against perpetuities.
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Yes. Unlike a power of termination, a possibility of reverter is freely alienable by the grantor during life.
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The interest passes under the grantor's will or by intestacy to the person entitled under the possibility of reverter when no issue or holder of an executory interest stands in priority.
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Yes. Upon occurrence of the condition precedent the fee simple determinable ends and the possibility of reverter ripens into present possession without any affirmative action by the holder.
…"basic common law principles" require us to retreat from our prior holdings that railroad rights of way entail an implied possibility of reverter to the original grantor—the United States—should the right of way cease to be used by a railroad for its intended purpose. Ante , at 1265–1266. But federal and state decisions in this…