conditional ownership

Conditional ownership is an interest in property that is subject to some form of condition being fulfilled before the interested party can gain absolute ownership . These conditions can be something required of the person receiving the property interest or can be something unrelated like a year. An individual can sell or gift property with conditions for a variety of reasons, and states differ on how property law should address conditional ownership. Examples of conditional ownership:

  1. Pam gifts her son Ravi $50,000 in trust if Ravi completes undergrad with a 3.0 GPA.
  2. Charles deeds the land beside his house to Caroline upon the condition that Caroline build a fence on the property close to his house.
  3. Kate bequests $100,000 to each of her children upon the condition that they reach the age of 21.

[Last reviewed in June of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

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