Also known as: Statute De Donis Conditionalibus · Statute of De Donis · De Donis
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An English statute enacted in 1285 that converted estates in fee simple conditional into estates in fee tail. The statute prevented the first taker from alienating the land beyond the lives of lineal descendants and preserved the donor's reversionary interest when the line ended.
Denise Donovan conveyed Blackacre to her niece Diana Delgado using the words to Diana and the heirs of her body. Diana later attempted to sell the land outright to a developer. Because the conveyance occurred in a jurisdiction where the statute remains unmodified, Diana holds only a fee tail and cannot transfer fee simple title to the developer.
Dominic Drake received land from his father under a deed stating to Dominic and the heirs of his body. Dominic negotiated a long-term lease with a commercial tenant. The other heirs objected and obtained an injunction because the statute prevents Dominic from granting interests that defeat the lineal succession.
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The phrase creates an estate in fee tail that passes only to the grantee's lineal descendants. The first taker cannot convey fee simple absolute and the land reverts to the donor if the line ends.
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The statute operates only where a state has neither enacted legislation nor issued a judicial decision that fundamentally alters the traditional effect of fee tail language. Most states have abolished or modified fee tails by statute or decision.
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The attempted conveyance is ineffective beyond the tenant's lifetime. The grantee receives only the interest the tenant could lawfully transfer, leaving the lineal heirs and reversioner protected.
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