## Facts

- In 1948, Cecil S. Wood and Edna M. Wood conveyed about 2.1 acres in Riverton, Wyoming, to Fremont County by warranty deed.
- The deed stated the tract was conveyed “for the purpose of constructing and maintaining thereon a County Hospital” as a memorial to local armed forces members.
- Fremont County constructed and operated a county hospital on the property for decades.
- In 1983, the county sold the hospital property to a private company; the private operator ran the hospital for about a year and then offered the property for sale.
- The Woods claimed the deed created a defeasible fee, leaving them either a possibility of reverter (fee simple determinable) or a right of entry (fee simple subject to condition subsequent) when the property ceased being used as a county hospital.

## Issues

1. Whether the deed’s “for the purpose of constructing and maintaining” language created a fee simple determinable with a possibility of reverter in the grantors.
2. Whether the same language created a fee simple subject to condition subsequent with a right of entry in the grantors.
3. Whether, absent clear conditional language, the deed conveyed a fee simple absolute to the county under presumptions favoring transfer of the grantor’s entire estate.

## Decision

- The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the Board of County Commissioners.
- The deed conveyed a fee simple absolute, not a fee simple determinable or a fee simple subject to condition subsequent.
- The “for the purpose of” clause was treated as an expression of motive or intended use, not an enforceable limitation or condition on title.
- Because no reversionary interest was retained, the county’s sale and the cessation of county operation did not divest the county’s estate.

## Legal Principles

- A conveyance is presumed to pass all of the grantor’s estate unless intent to convey less is expressly stated or necessarily implied.
- Deeds are construed from their plain language as a whole to determine intent.
- Courts presume against future interests and defeasible fees when deed language is ambiguous, favoring stable, freely transferable titles.
- Purpose language (e.g., “for the purpose of”) does not create a fee simple determinable without clear durational terms indicating automatic termination.
- A fee simple subject to condition subsequent requires clear conditional language and an expressed right of re-entry; absent such terms, no right of entry is created.

## Conclusion

The court held that a deed stating land is conveyed “for the purpose” of operating a county hospital, without explicit termination or re-entry language, transfers a fee simple absolute and leaves the grantors with no reversionary interest when the property’s use later changes.


Wood v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm’rs of Fremont Cnty., 759 P.2d 1250 (Wyo. 1988)