This lesson will introduce students to the estate in fee tail, one of the traditional estate in land recognized by Anglo-American Law. While the fee tail has been abolished in most American jurisdictions, it continues to be recognized in modified form in a few states. Understanding the fee tail will give you a better understanding of the system of estates in land as a whole. This lesson will describe: the characteristics of the traditional fee tail; the characteristics of the fee tail in those states which continue to recognize it today; and the treatment under modern statutes of attempts to create a fee tail in states which no longer recognize that estate.
