Legal Definitions - entailed estate

An entailed estate is a type of property ownership where the estate can only be inherited by specific descendants of the original owner. This type of estate lasts until the current owner dies without any eligible heirs. For example, if a property is granted to Albert and the heirs of his body, only Albert's direct descendants can inherit the property.

Most states have abolished entailed estates, except for Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. This type of estate is also known as a fee tail, estate tail, estate in tail, estate in fee tail, tenancy in tail, or entail.

There are two types of fee tails: fee tail general and fee tail special. A fee tail general is heritable by all of the property owner's issue by any spouse. A fee tail special restricts the eligibility of claimants by requiring a claimant to prove direct descent from the grantee and meet the special condition in the grant.

For example, if a property is granted to A and the heirs of his body begotten on his wife Mary, only descendants of A and Mary can inherit the property. A's children by any other wife are excluded. An estate tail special could also be restricted to only male or only female descendants, as in "to A and the heirs male of his body."

Entailed estates were popular in medieval times and were used to ensure familial continuity and status. However, they are no longer widely used today.