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

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

From Project Gutenberg

Humane masters were denied the right to emancipate their slaves, and the latter were prohibited from owning real property in fee simple or fee tail.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

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 Project Gutenberg

Edward Shelley was a tenant in fee tail general.

From Project Gutenberg