fee simple absolute
Fee simple absolute is the ultimate property interest in land, held without limitation.
Fee simple absolute is a form of fee simple ownership. It grants its owner all traditional property rights, is of unlimited duration, and is free from limitation. It is a type of freehold estate. All other real property interests can be seen as pieces of a fee simple absolute.
Unlike a fee simple defeasible, which has conditions or limitations imposed by the grantor at the time of conveyance, a fee simple absolute is without limitation. Defeasible fees include the fee simple determinable, fee simple subject to a condition subsequent, and fee simple subject to an executory limitation.
Unlike a life estate, which ends with the death of the specified person, a fee simple absolute persists indefinitely and can be passed on via will or intestate succession.
A holder of a fee simple absolute who transfers a lesser possessory estate either retains a future interest in the property or grants that future interest to a third party as an executory interest.
[Last reviewed in June of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team]
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