Whiet v. Brown Facts: Lide wrote a will out herself with no witnesses. She appointed her niece Perry to be the executor of the estate after she died. She left her personal property to her. She left her house, “not to be sold” to the White, the (P). the twelve nieces and nephews are the (D) in the case. Mrs. White with her daughter filed this suit to obtain construction of the will alleging that she had a fee simple title to her home. (D) claim that the will only gave a life estate to the (P). Issue: Can a fee simple have restrictions?
I) The difficulty in this case is that the wording is ambiguous. In such cases the court looks to try and find the person’s intent. Unless the words and context convey a life estate then the will should be construed as passing the home to White. II) A will is susceptible to two constrictions. 1) the person gives away all their estate or, 2) he gives away part leaving the rest intestate. You can give fee simple and impose a restraint. What you cannot do is impose an absolute restraint but you may impose a partial restraint.
Rule: A will shall convey all the real estate belonging to [the testator] or in which he had any interest at his decease, unless a contrary intention appear by it swords and context.
fee simple determinable : a defeasible fee that automatically terminates upon the occurrence of a specified event or condition and which reverts to the grantor (compare estate on condition at estate) Note: A fee simple determinable is conveyed by language which states that the estate automatically terminates and reverts to the grantor, and which expresses duration (``so long as,'' ``until,'' ``during the time that'').