## Facts

- In 1902 and 1908, grantors conveyed two small adjacent tracts in Montgomery County, Kansas, to a local school district by quitclaim deeds for nominal consideration.
- Each deed granted to the district and its “heirs and assigns,” and included language stating the grant was made “only for school or cemetery purposes” or “for school and cemetery purposes only.”
- The deeds contained no express reversionary clause and no words stating the estate would “revert,” “terminate,” or “cease” if the property stopped being used for school or cemetery purposes.
- The school district used the property for school purposes for more than sixty years and never used it as a cemetery.
- After school use ended, the district sold the property in 1971; Clarence and Evelyn Rhodes later acquired title through subsequent conveyances.
- Charles and Texie Roberts obtained deeds from heirs of the original grantors and asserted that title automatically reverted when school use ceased.

## Issues

1. Whether deed language stating land is granted “only for school or cemetery purposes,” without explicit limiting or reverter terms, creates a fee simple determinable (or other defeasible fee) that ends when the specified use stops.

## Decision

- The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals and rejected the trial court’s determination that the deeds created a fee simple determinable with a possibility of reverter.
- The Court held the deeds conveyed fee simple title to the school district because the “purpose” phrases were not words of limitation and did not provide for automatic expiration or reversion.
- Because the district held fee simple, it could convey valid title in 1971, and the Rhodeses’ chain of title was upheld.

## Legal Principles

- A mere statement of the purpose of a conveyance does not limit the estate granted absent clear, operative language creating a condition or limitation.
- A fee simple determinable requires language showing the estate automatically expires upon a stated event; courts will not infer automatic termination from purpose recitals alone.
- Forfeitures are disfavored; ambiguous deed language will not be construed to create a defeasible fee or reversionary interest without clear and unequivocal terms.

## Conclusion

The Court held that “for school or cemetery purposes only” was an expression of intended use, not a limitation on the estate, and that the school district took a fee simple that remained transferable even after school use ended.


Roberts v. Rhodes, 231 Kan. 74, 643 P.2d 116 (Kan. 1982)