## Facts

- Eugene Holtsinger conveyed a strip of land to a traction company on the express condition that the land be used for railroad purposes; if that use ceased, title would revert to Holtsinger and his heirs.
- Months later, Holtsinger conveyed a larger tract (including the strip) to G.A. Henderson and Monroe Gaither, stating the conveyance was “subject to” the prior deed to the traction company.
- The traction company later ceased railroad operations and abandoned the strip (alleged to have occurred around 1945–1946).
- Henderson and Gaither’s interest passed by successive conveyances to the plaintiffs.
- The plaintiffs claimed that abandonment automatically ended the traction company’s estate and vested title in them through an assigned possibility of reverter.
- The defendant claimed title inconsistent with plaintiffs’ asserted reversionary interest and challenged whether any such interest was transferable.

## Issues

1. Whether the railroad-use condition created a fee simple determinable with a possibility of reverter, rather than another form of future interest.
2. Whether a possibility of reverter is transferable under Florida law so that it could pass from Holtsinger to Henderson and Gaither, and then to the plaintiffs.
3. Whether the plaintiffs’ ejectment declaration stated a legally sufficient claim after alleged abandonment of the railroad use.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Florida reversed the order sustaining the defendant’s demurrer and dismissing the ejectment action.
- The court held that the original deed created a fee simple determinable in the traction company and a possibility of reverter in Holtsinger.
- The court held that the possibility of reverter was assignable and was conveyed through the later deed (and mesne conveyances) to the plaintiffs.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- A conveyance conditioned on continued use for a specified purpose, coupled with language of automatic return of title upon cessation of that use, creates a fee simple determinable and a possibility of reverter in the grantor.
- Under Florida law, a possibility of reverter is a recognizable property interest that may be transferred inter vivos unless barred by law or public policy.
- A subsequent deed conveying the land “subject to” an earlier determinable-fee conveyance can pass the grantor’s retained possibility of reverter, depending on the instrument’s terms and the parties’ manifested intent.
- When the specified use ends, the determinable fee terminates automatically, and the holder of the possibility of reverter obtains present title sufficient to support ejectment against adverse claimants.

## Conclusion

Florida recognized that an automatic reverter clause tied to railroad use created a fee simple determinable and that the grantor’s possibility of reverter could be conveyed to successors; once abandonment occurred, the plaintiffs’ pleaded interest matured into present title, making their ejectment claim legally sufficient.


Richardson v. Holman, 33 So. 2d 641 (Fla. 1948)