fee tail

American  

noun

1. fee4a

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fee tail British  

noun

1. property law

   1. a freehold interest in land restricted to a particular line of heirs

   2. an estate in land subject to such restriction Compare fee simple

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Etymology

Origin of fee tail

1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French

Example Sentences

The grantees in their turn settled these holdings in fee tail on the oldest son in accordance with the law of primogeniture.

From The Journal of Negro History, Volume 1, January 1916 by Various

Edward Shelley was a tenant in fee tail general.

From Our Legal Heritage June 2011 (Sixth) Edition by Reilly, S. A.

Former judge Sir Thomas Littleton wrote a legal textbook describing tenancies in dower; the tenures of socage, knight's service, serjeanty, and burgage; estates in fee simple, fee tail, and fee conditional.

From Our Legal Heritage by Reilly, S. A.

A fee tail was often given to a man and the issue of his body.

From Our Legal Heritage June 2011 (Sixth) Edition by Reilly, S. A.