Ownership of real property - Present estates and future inte...

Learning Outcomes

This article explains ownership of real property through the lens of time-sliced interests in land, including:

• precise classification of freehold present estates (fee simple absolute, defeasible fees, fee tail, life estates, including pur autre vie) and identification of the correct present and future holders at every point in time;
• distinguishing reversion, possibility of reverter, right of entry, vested and contingent remainders, class gifts, and shifting and springing executory interests, with emphasis on common exam drafting language;
• applying the doctrines of waste, open mines, and the rights and obligations of life tenants and future interest holders in typical MBE-style disputes over misuse or neglect of property;
• analyzing how common-law rules such as the destructibility of contingent remainders, the Rule in Shelley's Case, and the Doctrine of Worthier Title may alter who takes, while recognizing modern trends that treat them as rules of construction;
• performing stepwise Rule Against Perpetuities analysis for contingent remainders, vested remainders subject to open, and executory interests, including identification of validating lives, class-closing issues, and the impact of RAP violations on conveyance outcomes.

MBE Syllabus

For the MBE, you are required to understand ownership of real property – present estates and future interests, with a focus on the following syllabus points:

• Distinguish fee simple absolute, defeasible fees, fee tail, and life estates (including pur autre vie).
• Recognize creation language for each estate and identify who has present and future possession rights at every point in time.
• Identify and classify future interests: reversion, possibility of reverter, right of entry, remainders (vested, contingent, subject to open, subject to complete divestment), and executory interests (shifting and springing).
• Analyze transferability, divisibility, and descendibility of both present and future interests.
• Apply the doctrine of waste to disputes between life tenants (and other present interest holders) and future interest holders.
• Apply common-law rules affecting future interests, including destructibility of contingent remainders, the Rule in Shelley’s Case, and the Doctrine of Worthier Title (noting modern trends).
• Apply the Rule Against Perpetuities to contingent remainders, class gifts, and executory interests, including use of validating lives and the basic “lives in being plus 21 years” test.

Test Your Knowledge

Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, remember to look more closely at that area during your revision.

1. Grantor conveys Blackacre "to A for life, then to B and her heirs." B predeceases A. Upon A's death, who owns Blackacre?
   1. Grantor
   2. A's heirs
   3. B's heirs
   4. The state by escheat
2. Which future interest follows a fee simple determinable?
   1. Right of entry
   2. Possibility of reverter
   3. Reversion
   4. Contingent remainder
3. O conveys Greenacre "to my son S for life, then to S's children, but if S has no children living at his death, then to my daughter D." At the time of the conveyance, S has no children. What interest does D have?
   1. Vested remainder subject to divestment
   2. Contingent remainder
   3. Executory interest
   4. Reversion

Introduction

Ownership of land can be conceptualized as a bundle of rights, divisible over time. Present estates confer the right to possess the property currently, while future interests represent a right to possess the property at some point in the future. Understanding the specific types of present estates and the future interests they generate is fundamental to real property analysis on the MBE. This article focuses primarily on freehold estates – those involving ownership of uncertain duration – and the future interests associated with them.

Key Term: Present Estate
An interest in land that gives the holder the right to current possession.

Key Term: Future Interest
An interest in land that will or may become possessory at some future date. It is a present, legally protected right to future possession.

A key exam skill is to track who has what, and when. At any moment, someone must hold the present right to possess the land, and everyone else’s interest is necessarily in the future. MBE questions frequently ask you to determine, after some event (e.g., a death, breach of condition, or conveyance), which party now owns Blackacre and in what form.

Freehold Estates

Freehold estates are interests in land characterized by uncertain duration and association with seisin (possession under a claim of freehold). The principal freehold estates are the fee simple, the fee tail, and the life estate. Each may have different future interests attached, so classification is step one in any analysis.

Key Term: Defeasible Fee
A fee simple estate that may terminate upon the occurrence of a specified event, cutting short what would otherwise be potentially infinite duration.

Fee Simple Estates

The fee simple is the most complete form of ownership, potentially lasting forever.

Fee Simple Absolute

This is the largest possible estate in land, representing potentially infinite duration. The holder possesses full rights of possession, use, and transfer (inter vivos, by will, or by intestacy). No future interest accompanies a fee simple absolute.

Key Term: Fee Simple Absolute
The most complete estate in land, potentially infinite in duration, with no associated future interest in a third party or the grantor.

Traditionally created by the phrase "to A and his heirs," modern law presumes a conveyance is a fee simple absolute unless lesser language is clearly used (e.g., "to A for life"). Words merely expressing hope or motive (precatory language) do not limit the estate.

• Example: "To A, my hope and wish being that she will leave the property to her son." A takes a fee simple absolute; the son takes nothing because the grantor did not impose an actual legal limitation or condition.

Because it is a fee simple, the estate is:

• Freely alienable (transferable inter vivos).
• Devisable (transferable by will).
• Descendible (passes by intestacy to heirs).

Defeasible Fees

These are fee simple estates that can be terminated upon the happening of a stated event. They are still potentially infinite but carry the possibility of early termination. There are three main types.

Key Term: Fee Simple Determinable
A fee simple estate that automatically ends when a specific condition occurs, at which point the property reverts to the grantor.

Key Term: Possibility of Reverter
The future interest retained by a grantor who conveys a fee simple determinable. It becomes possessory automatically upon the occurrence of the stated condition.

1. Fee Simple Determinable (FSD):

This estate automatically terminates upon the occurrence of a specified event. The future interest retained by the grantor is a possibility of reverter. Classic durational language is used: "so long as," "while," "during," or "until."

• Example: O conveys Blackacre "to School District so long as the land is used for school purposes." School District has a fee simple determinable. O retains a possibility of reverter. If the land ceases to be used for school purposes, title automatically reverts to O (or O's successors), without need for any action.

Be alert on the MBE to automatic termination language. If the condition occurs, the grantee’s estate ends instantly by operation of law.

1. Fee Simple Subject to Condition Subsequent (FSSCS):

Key Term: Fee Simple Subject to Condition Subsequent
A fee simple estate that may be terminated at the grantor's election when a specific condition occurs. The grantor must exercise the right of entry.

Key Term: Right of Entry
The future interest retained by a grantor who conveys a fee simple subject to condition subsequent. It gives the grantor the power, but not the automatic right, to terminate the estate upon breach of the condition.

This estate does not automatically terminate upon the condition's breach. The grantor retains a right of entry (also called a power of termination) which must be affirmatively exercised to terminate the estate. Look for conditional language such as "provided that," "on condition that," "but if," plus an express reservation of the right to re-enter.

• Example: O conveys Blackacre "to Railroad Company, but if the land ceases to be used for railroad purposes, O or O's heirs may re-enter and retake the premises." Railroad Company has a fee simple subject to condition subsequent. O retains a right of entry. If the land is no longer used for railroad purposes, Railroad’s title continues until O or O’s successors take steps to re-enter.

Courts prefer to construe ambiguous language as an FSSCS rather than an FSD to avoid automatic forfeiture, so if a grant contains both durational words and a reserved power of termination, expect the MBE to classify it as FSSCS.

1. Fee Simple Subject to Executory Limitation (or Interest):

Key Term: Fee Simple Subject to Executory Limitation
A fee simple estate that automatically terminates upon a stated condition, with the property then passing to a third party.

Key Term: Executory Interest
A future interest in a transferee that cuts short a prior estate (shifting executory interest) or follows a gap after the prior estate (springing executory interest). It does not wait for the natural end of the preceding estate.

This estate automatically terminates upon a stated event, but the property then passes to a third party rather than reverting to the grantor. That third party holds an executory interest.

• Example: O conveys Blackacre "to A and his heirs, but if A becomes a lawyer, then to B and her heirs." A has a fee simple subject to an executory limitation. B has an executory interest. If A becomes a lawyer, A's interest ends automatically and possession shifts to B.

On the MBE, once a third party (not the grantor) will take upon the condition, the future interest is always an executory interest, never a possibility of reverter or right of entry.

Shifting vs Springing Executory Interests

Key Term: Shifting Executory Interest
An executory interest that divests a transferee’s estate, shifting possession from one grantee to another upon a condition.

Key Term: Springing Executory Interest
An executory interest that divests the grantor’s estate or follows a gap in possession, “springing” out of the grantor at a future time.

• Shifting: "To A, but if B returns from Rome, then to B." B’s interest cuts short A’s estate.
• Springing: "To A when A marries." Until A marries, O holds the fee; if A marries, A’s interest springs out of O.

Executory interests are always in transferees and are always subject to the Rule Against Perpetuities.

Worked Example 1.1

Grantor conveys Whiteacre "to the City Library, provided that the premises are used solely for library purposes, and upon breach of this condition, Grantor shall have the power to terminate the estate." The City subsequently opens a coffee shop within the library building. What interests do the parties hold?

Answer:
The City Library holds a fee simple subject to condition subsequent. The language "provided that" and the express reservation of the power to terminate indicate this estate. Grantor holds a right of entry (power of termination). The estate does not automatically end upon the breach (opening the coffee shop); Grantor must take action to terminate the Library's estate. Until then, the Library remains the owner.

Fee Tail

Key Term: Fee Tail
A historical estate limited to the grantee’s lineal descendants, typically created by "to A and the heirs of his body," designed to keep property within a bloodline.

Historically, this estate limited inheritance to the grantee's lineal descendants ("heirs of the body"). If the line died out, the property reverted to the grantor or passed to a designated remainderman. Most jurisdictions have abolished the fee tail, converting attempted creations into fee simple absolutes. On the MBE, you should treat "to A and the heirs of his body" as giving A a fee simple absolute, unless the question expressly tells you otherwise.

Life Estate

A life estate's duration is measured by the lifetime of a specified person (the "measuring life").

Key Term: Life Estate
An estate whose duration is measured by the lifetime of one or more specified individuals.

Key Term: Life Estate Pur Autre Vie
A life estate measured by the life of someone other than the life tenant.

Key Term: Life Tenant
The holder of a life estate, entitled to present possession and use of the property for the duration of the measuring life.

Creation and Types

• For Life of Grantee: The most common form, e.g., "to A for life." The measuring life is the grantee (A).
• Pur Autre Vie: Measured by the life of someone other than the grantee, e.g., "to A for the life of B." A's estate ends when B dies. This also arises if a life tenant transfers their interest; the transferee holds an estate measured by the original measuring life ("A conveys her life estate to C" gives C a life estate pur autre vie measured by A’s life).

Open-text grants like "to A to live in the house" may be construed as either a life estate or a fee simple, depending on intent and surrounding circumstances; the MBE will usually make the intended estate clear.

Future Interests Following a Life Estate

• Reversion: If the property returns to the grantor (or the grantor's successors) upon the life tenant's death, the grantor holds a reversion.

  • Example: "O to A for life." O has a reversion in fee simple.

• Remainder: If the property passes to a third party upon the life tenant's death, that third party holds a remainder.

  • Example: "O to A for life, then to B." B has a remainder.

Key Term: Reversion
The future interest retained by a grantor when they convey a lesser estate than they owned (e.g., conveying a life estate when owning a fee simple).

Key Term: Remainder
A future interest created in a transferee that is capable of becoming possessory immediately upon the natural termination of a preceding life estate or term of years.

Transfer of Life Estates

A life tenant can convey or lease only what they have. A sale, gift, or lease by a life tenant cannot give the grantee a greater interest than the life estate:

• If A has "to A for life" and sells to B, B holds "for A’s life" (a life estate pur autre vie).
• When the measuring life ends, the life estate terminates automatically, regardless of who is in possession. A life tenant cannot devise the life estate by will or pass it by intestacy beyond the measuring life.

Key Term: Condition Precedent
A condition that must be satisfied before a future interest can become possessory, beyond the natural termination of the prior estate.

Key Term: Condition Subsequent
A condition that can cut short an already vested estate if it later occurs.

Rights and Duties of Life Tenant: Waste

Key Term: Waste
Unreasonable interference with the expectations of future interest holders, by changing, damaging, or failing to preserve the property.

Key Term: Affirmative Waste
Waste caused by deliberate, voluntary acts that substantially reduce the property’s value.

Key Term: Permissive Waste
Waste caused by neglect, failure to maintain, or failure to pay ordinary carrying charges.

Key Term: Ameliorative Waste
Alterations that substantially change the property but increase (or do not reduce) its market value.

Key Term: Open Mines Doctrine
A rule allowing a life tenant to continue existing exploitation of natural resources, but not to open new mines or quarries.

A life tenant has the right to possess and use the property but cannot commit waste – acts that unreasonably impair the value of the property for future interest holders.

• Affirmative (Voluntary) Waste:
  Examples include demolishing structures, cutting timber beyond normal use, or opening new mines. A life tenant may exploit natural resources only if:

  • Necessary for repair or maintenance,
  • The land is suitable only for such use (e.g., a quarry), or
  • Exploitation was already occurring before the life estate was created (the open mines doctrine).

• Permissive Waste:
  Failure to take reasonable steps to protect the property. The life tenant must:

  • Make ordinary repairs (not large capital improvements) to keep the property in reasonable condition,
  • Pay property taxes and interest (but not principal) on any mortgage, to the extent of income or reasonable rental value of the land.

• Ameliorative Waste:
  Traditionally, a life tenant could not make substantial changes even if they improved value. Modernly, many courts allow ameliorative changes if:

  • Market value is not impaired (and usually is increased), and
  • Either all future interest holders consent, or
  • Changed neighborhood conditions make the property unusable in its current form.

Worked Example 1.2

O conveys Greenacre "to A for life, remainder to B." The property includes a coal mine that O actively operated before the conveyance. A continues mining operations, significantly depleting the coal reserves. B sues A for waste. Will B likely succeed?

Answer:
No. A, the life tenant, is generally not permitted to exploit natural resources. However, under the "open mines doctrine," if exploitation (mining) was occurring before the life estate was created, the life tenant may usually continue operations. Since O operated the mine before conveying the life estate to A, A's continued mining falls under this exception, and B’s waste claim will likely fail.

Worked Example 1.3

O owns Blackacre in fee simple. O conveys "to A for life." A fails to pay property taxes for several years and allows the roof to deteriorate badly. O (or O’s successor) sues A. What type(s) of waste has A committed?

Answer:
A has committed permissive waste by failing to pay property taxes and neglecting ordinary repairs (the roof). A is obligated, to the extent of income or reasonable rental value, to keep the property in reasonable repair and to pay carrying charges like taxes and interest. O can seek damages or injunctive relief to force A to satisfy these obligations.

Future Interests: Remainders and Executory Interests

Future interests in transferees (third parties) following life estates or defeasible fees are either remainders or executory interests.

Remainders

A remainder must follow the natural termination of a preceding estate (typically a life estate) and cannot cut short a prior interest.

Key Term: Vested Remainder
A remainder created in an ascertained person that is not subject to any condition precedent other than the natural termination of the prior estate.

Key Term: Indefeasibly Vested Remainder
A vested remainder that is certain to become possessory and cannot be defeated or reduced.

Key Term: Vested Remainder Subject to Open
A vested remainder held by a class with at least one ascertained member, but where additional class members may still join.

Key Term: Vested Remainder Subject to Complete Divestment
A vested remainder that can be divested entirely if a subsequent condition occurs (a condition subsequent).

Key Term: Contingent Remainder
A remainder that is either created in an unascertained person or is subject to a condition precedent (other than the natural termination of the prior estate).

Key Term: Class Gift
A gift to a group of persons described collectively (e.g., “children of B”), where membership of the class may change before the gift closes.

Vested Remainders

A remainder is vested if it is:

• Given to an ascertained (identifiable) person; and
• Not subject to any condition precedent other than the natural end of the prior estate.

Types:

1. Indefeasibly Vested Remainder:

   • Example: "To A for life, then to B." B is ascertained and nothing must happen other than A’s death. B has an indefeasibly vested remainder in fee simple.

2. Vested Remainder Subject to Open (Class Gift):

   • Example: "To A for life, then to A’s children." At the time of the conveyance, A has one child, C. C has a vested remainder subject to open, because additional children may be born and share the remainder.

   The class remains open as long as it is possible for new members to join (here, until A’s death). On the MBE, remember that a living person is always presumed capable of having more children, regardless of age (the “fertile octogenarian” principle for RAP).

3. Vested Remainder Subject to Complete Divestment:

   • Example: "To A for life, then to B, but if B does not survive A, then to C."
     B is ascertained and does not need to do anything to take, so B’s remainder is vested. However, it can be divested if B dies before A. B thus has a vested remainder subject to complete divestment; C has a shifting executory interest.

Contingent Remainders

A remainder is contingent if:

• It is given to an unascertained person, or
• It is subject to a condition precedent.

Examples:

• Unascertained Person:
  "To A for life, then to B’s heirs." While B is alive, B’s heirs are unascertained. The remainder is contingent until B’s death.

• Condition Precedent:
  "To A for life, then to B if B graduates from law school." The law school graduation is a condition precedent. Until B satisfies it, B has a contingent remainder. O holds a reversion in case B does not qualify by A’s death.

Key Term: Destructibility of Contingent Remainders
A common-law rule (largely abolished) under which a contingent remainder that failed to vest before or upon termination of the preceding estate was destroyed rather than becoming an executory interest.

At strict common law, if A died before B graduated, B’s remainder would be destroyed, and O’s reversion would become possessory. Modernly, most jurisdictions abolish this doctrine and often treat the interest as an executory interest or allow it to vest later.

Executory Interests

As noted earlier, an executory interest does not wait patiently for the natural termination of a life estate. It cuts short ("divests") a prior estate or follows a gap after the prior estate and is therefore not a remainder.

We recap the main types:

• Shifting Executory Interest: Divests a prior interest held by another transferee.

  • Example: "To A for life, then to B, but if B ever smokes, then to C."
    B has a vested remainder subject to complete divestment; C has a shifting executory interest that may cut short B’s estate if the condition occurs.

• Springing Executory Interest: Divests the grantor’s interest or follows a gap.

  • Example: "To A, if A marries B."
    A has a springing executory interest. Until A marries, O has the fee simple. If A marries, A’s interest springs out of O.

Key Term: Rule in Shelley's Case
A common-law rule (largely abolished) that, when the same instrument gives a life estate to a person and a remainder to that person’s heirs, treats both interests as merged in the grantee, giving the grantee a fee simple.

Key Term: Doctrine of Worthier Title
A common-law doctrine (largely abolished or treated as a presumption) that disfavors remainders in the grantor’s heirs, instead construing such language as leaving a reversion in the grantor.

Exam Warning

Distinguishing between vested remainders subject to divestment and contingent remainders subject to a condition precedent can be tricky. Pay close attention to the phrasing.

• "To A for life, then to B, but if B dies unmarried, then to C" creates a vested remainder in B subject to complete divestment by C’s executory interest.
• "To A for life, then to B if B is married" creates a contingent remainder in B (marriage is a condition precedent). If A dies while B is single, B’s interest fails and the reversion (in the grantor) becomes possessory.

On the MBE, conditions appearing in the grant to the remainderman (“to B if…”) usually indicate a contingent remainder; conditions appearing after a comma in a separate clause (“to B, but if…”) usually indicate a vested remainder subject to divestment.

Common Law Doctrines Affecting Remainders

Although often abolished or modified, you must recognize them if explicitly invoked in a question.

1. Destructibility of Contingent Remainders:

As noted above, a contingent remainder that failed to vest by the end of the preceding freehold estate was destroyed. Modern law largely rejects this rule; instead, the interest often becomes an executory interest, or the grantor’s reversion takes and the contingent interest fails.

1. Rule in Shelley's Case:

Key Term: Rule in Shelley's Case
At common law, if one instrument created a life estate in A and, in the same instrument, purported to give a remainder to A’s heirs, A took both interests, merged them, and held a fee simple.

• Example: "To A for life, then to A’s heirs." At common law, A took a fee simple absolute. Modernly, this is usually treated as giving A a life estate and A’s heirs a contingent remainder.

1. Doctrine of Worthier Title (DOWT):

Key Term: Doctrine of Worthier Title
A doctrine that, when a grantor conveys "to A for life, then to my heirs," treats the remainder to the grantor’s heirs as void, leaving the grantor with a reversion instead.

This doctrine is still applied as a rule of construction in some jurisdictions: courts presume the grantor intended to keep a reversion rather than create a remainder in the grantor’s heirs, but the presumption can be rebutted by clear intent.

Rule Against Perpetuities (RAP) and Class Gifts

Key Term: Rule Against Perpetuities
The common-law rule that no contingent future interest is valid unless it must vest or fail, if at all, no later than 21 years after some life in being at the creation of the interest.

The RAP applies only to certain uncertain future interests:

• Contingent remainders,
• Vested remainders subject to open (class gifts),
• Executory interests.

It does not apply to future interests in the grantor (reversions, possibility of reverter, right of entry) or to indefeasibly vested remainders and vested remainders subject to complete divestment.

Basic RAP analysis (for MBE purposes):

1. Identify the potentially offending interests (contingent remainder, class gift, executory interest).
2. Ask: Is there any possible scenario, however unlikely, where the interest could vest (or fail) more than 21 years after the death of all lives in being at creation?
3. If yes, the interest is void from the outset and is stricken from the instrument; you then re-read the conveyance without the offending language.

Class gifts are particularly problematic:

• Example: "To A for life, then to A’s grandchildren who reach 30."
  If A has one grandchild now, additional grandchildren could be born later, and some could reach 30 beyond 21 years after A’s death (because their parent might be born after the conveyance). This can make the entire class gift void under the traditional RAP ("bad as to one, bad as to all").

Key Term: Vested Remainder Subject to Open
A vested remainder granted to a class where at least one member is ascertained and satisfies any conditions precedent, but the class is still open to additional members.

Courts also apply the rule of convenience (a rule of construction) to save some class gifts: the class closes when at least one member is entitled to immediate possession. This can sometimes prevent RAP violations.

Worked Example 1.4

O conveys "to A for life, then to A’s children who reach 30." At the time of the conveyance, A has one child, C, who is 5. Is the remainder valid under the common-law Rule Against Perpetuities?

Answer:
The remainder is a class gift (to A’s children) that is subject to open and conditioned on reaching age 30. A could have another child after the conveyance. That after-born child might reach 30 more than 21 years after A (the measuring life) dies. Because it is possible that a class member’s interest will vest beyond "life in being plus 21 years," the entire class gift is void under the traditional RAP. The result: A has a life estate, and O retains a reversion in fee simple.

Worked Example 1.5

O conveys "to A for life, then to B if B survives A." At the time of conveyance, A and B are both alive. Later, A dies survived by B. Who owns Blackacre?

Answer:
At creation, B held a contingent remainder (condition precedent: B must survive A). When A dies and B is alive, the condition precedent is satisfied, so B’s remainder vests and becomes possessory. B now owns Blackacre in fee simple. O’s reversion never becomes possessory.

Worked Example 1.6

O conveys "to A, but if the land is ever used for commercial purposes, then to B and her heirs." Is B’s future interest valid under the RAP?

Answer:
B has a shifting executory interest following A’s fee simple subject to executory limitation. The condition ("ever used for commercial purposes") could occur far in the future, beyond any life in being plus 21 years. Under the strict common-law RAP, this executory interest is void as too remote. The conveyance is read as "to A" (a fee simple absolute). Note: there is an exception when both current owner and future taker are charitable organizations (the charity-to-charity exception), but that does not apply here.

Key Point Checklist

This article has covered the following key knowledge points:

• Property ownership can be divided in time between present estates (current possession) and future interests (future possession).
• Freehold present estates include fee simple (absolute and defeasible), fee tail (historical, now usually a fee simple), and life estate (including pur autre vie).
• A fee simple absolute is the default and most complete estate; it has no accompanying future interest.
• Defeasible fees include fee simple determinable (automatic termination; possibility of reverter), fee simple subject to condition subsequent (termination only if right of entry is exercised), and fee simple subject to executory limitation (automatic divestment in favor of a third party with an executory interest).
• Life estates are measured by a life; when they end, either the grantor’s reversion or a transferee’s remainder becomes possessory.
• Life tenants owe duties to future interest holders and may not commit waste (affirmative, permissive, or, usually, ameliorative).
• Remainders are future interests that wait for the natural termination of the preceding estate and are classified as vested (indefeasibly vested; subject to open; subject to complete divestment) or contingent (unascertained takers or subject to a condition precedent).
• Executory interests are future interests in transferees that cut short a prior vested estate (shifting) or spring out of the grantor or after a gap (springing).
• Common-law doctrines (destructibility of contingent remainders, Rule in Shelley’s Case, Doctrine of Worthier Title) alter who holds the future interest, but most jurisdictions now treat them as rules of construction or have abolished them.
• The Rule Against Perpetuities invalidates certain contingent future interests that might vest beyond lives in being plus 21 years; it particularly affects executory interests and class gifts (vested remainders subject to open, contingent remainders).

Key Terms and Concepts

• Present Estate
• Future Interest
• Fee Simple Absolute
• Defeasible Fee
• Fee Simple Determinable
• Possibility of Reverter
• Fee Simple Subject to Condition Subsequent
• Right of Entry
• Fee Simple Subject to Executory Limitation
• Executory Interest
• Shifting Executory Interest
• Springing Executory Interest
• Fee Tail
• Life Estate
• Life Estate Pur Autre Vie
• Life Tenant
• Reversion
• Remainder
• Vested Remainder
• Indefeasibly Vested Remainder
• Vested Remainder Subject to Open
• Vested Remainder Subject to Complete Divestment
• Contingent Remainder
• Class Gift
• Condition Precedent
• Condition Subsequent
• Waste
• Affirmative Waste
• Permissive Waste
• Ameliorative Waste
• Open Mines Doctrine
• Destructibility of Contingent Remainders
• Rule in Shelley's Case
• Doctrine of Worthier Title
• Rule Against Perpetuities