A base fee is an interest in real property that has the potential to last forever, provided a specified contingent event does not take place. For example, a grantee might be given an interest in a piece of land, "as long as the land is not used for any illegal purposes."
Law
In
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...
, a base fee is a
freehold
Freehold may refer to:
In real estate
*Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple
*Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England
*Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...
estate
Estate or The Estate may refer to:
Law
* Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations
* Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries.
** The Estates, representat ...
of
inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offici ...
which is limited or qualified by the existence of certain conditions. In modern
property law the commonest example of a base fee is an estate created by a
tenant
Tenant may refer to:
Real estate
*Tenant, the holder of a leasehold estate in real estate
*Tenant-in-chief, in feudal land law
*Tenement (law), the holder of a legal interest in real estate
*Tenant farmer
*Anchor tenant, one of the larger stores ...
in
tail
The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals ...
, not in
possession
Possession may refer to:
Law
*Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance
*Drug possession, a crime
*Ownership
*Per ...
, who bars the entail without the consent of the
protector
Protector(s) or The Protector(s) may refer to:
Roles and titles
* Protector (title), a title or part of various historical titles of heads of state and others in authority
** Lord Protector, a title that has been used in British constitutional l ...
of the
settlement.
Any attempt to bar the entail without the consent of the Protector would only be partially successful. Though he bars his own
issue
Issue or issues may refer to:
Publishing
* ''Issue'' (company), a mobile publishing company
* ''Issue'' (magazine), a monthly Korean comics anthology magazine
* Issue (postal service), a stamp or a series of stamps released to the public
* '' ...
(the rights of the future tenants in tail), he cannot bar any
remainder
In mathematics, the remainder is the amount "left over" after performing some computation. In arithmetic, the remainder is the integer "left over" after dividing one integer by another to produce an integer quotient (integer division). In algeb ...
or
reversion, and the estate (''i.e.'' the ''base fee'') thus created is determinable on the failure of his issue in tail.
The base fee can be defined as rights that would last for as long as the fee tail would have lasted, but which will end when the line of descent stipulated in the fee tail ran out.
An example of this kind of estate was introduced by
George Eliot
Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...
into the plot of ''
Felix Holt, the Radical
''Felix Holt, the Radical'' (1866) is a social novel written by George Eliot about political disputes in a small English town at the time of the First Reform Act of 1832.
In January 1868, Eliot penned an article entitled "Address to Working M ...
'' (1866),
and also by
Cyril Hare
Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark (4 September 1900 – 25 August 1958) was an English judgeHis Honour A. A. Gordon Clark (Obituaries) The Times Tuesday, 26 August 1958; pg. 10; Issue 54239; col E and crime writer under the pseudonym Cyril Hare.
...
in ''He Should Have Died Hereafter'' (1957). In the latter work (also published as ''Untimely Death''), the plot turns on the UK Limitation Act 1939 section 11, under which a base fee might be enlarged into a
fee simple
In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" is real property held without limit of time (i.e., ...
by the owner remaining in possession for 12 years.
Another example of a base fee is an estate descendible to heirs general, but terminable on an uncertain event; for example, a grant of land to A and his heirs, tenants of the manor of Dale. The estate terminates whenever the prescribed qualification ceases. An early meaning of base fee was an estate held not by free or military service, but by base service, ''i.e.'' at the will of the lord.
[A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856]
See also
*
Fee simple
In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" is real property held without limit of time (i.e., ...
Notes
Property law
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