CONDITIONAL FEE. A fee which, at the common law, was restrained to some par ticular heirs, exclusive of others.
It was called a conditional fee by reason of the condition, expressed or implied in the donation of it, that if the donee died without such particular heirs, the land should revert to the donor. For this was a condition annexed by law to all grants what soever, that, on failure of the heirs specified in the grant, the grant should be at an end and the land return to its ancient proprietor.
Such a gift, then, was held to be a gift upon con dition that it should revert to the donor if the donee had no heirs of his body, but, if he had, it should then remain to the donee. it was, therefore, called a fee simple, on condition that the donee had issue. As soon as the donee had issue born, his estate was supposed to become absolute, by the performance of the condition,—at least so far ab solute as to enable him to charge or to alienate the land, or to forfeit it for treason. But on the pass
ing of the statute of Westminster II., commonly called the statute De Donis Conditionalibus, the judges determined that the donee had no longer a conditional fee simple which became absolute and at his own disposal as soon as any issue was born; hut they divided the estate into two parts, leaving the donee a new kind of particular estate, which they denominated a fee tail; and vesting in the donor the ultimate fee simple of the land, expectant on the failure of issue, which expectant estate was called a reversion. And hence it is said that tenant in fee tail is by virtue of the statute De Donis. 2 Bla. Com. 112.
A conditional fee may be granted by will as well as by deed; Corey v. Springer, 138 Ind. 506, 37 N. E. 322.