O conveys to "A for life, remainder to B and his heirs." A has a life estate in the property. B has a vested remainder in fee simple.
Vested remainder
Refers to a remainder with an ascertained taker and with no condition precedent.
See: Future Interest
Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary
An unconditional right to receive property at some point in the future. A vested interest may be created by a deed or a will. For example, if Julie leaves her house in a life estate to her husband and then to her daughter when her husband dies, the daughter has a vested remainder in the house.
Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.
August 19, 2010, 5:26 pm
"In construing an instrument, the primary objective is to determine the intent of the maker and render the construction which reflects that intent. Although the law favors vested interests, and a construction in favor of a vested interest will be given in cases of doubt, the basic task before any court is to determine whether or not the testator intended a particular interest to be vested or contingent. In making such a determination we must examine the instrument in its entirety to ascertain whether the testator intended to make a gift presently with payment postponed until a future time, or whether he intended to suspend the gift altogether until such future time."
"A gift which is made presently with payment postponed creates a vested interest, but a gift which is suspended altogether until a future time creates a contingent interest."
