Editing Fee simple (section)

{{Short description|Form of freehold land ownership}}
{{Refimprove|date=July 2010}}
{{Property law}}

In [[English law]], a '''fee simple''' or '''fee simple absolute''' is an [[estate in land]], a form of [[Freehold (English law)|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., permanently) under [[common law]], whereas the highest possible form of ownership is a "fee simple absolute", which is without limitations on the land's use (such as qualifiers or conditions that disallow certain uses of the land or subject the vested interest to termination).<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is Fee Simple In Real Estate? |url=https://www.rocketmortgage.com/learn/fee-simple |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=www.rocketmortgage.com |language=en}}</ref>

The rights of the fee-simple owner are limited by government powers of [[taxation]], [[compulsory purchase]], [[Law enforcement in the United Kingdom#Powers of officers|police power]], and [[escheat]], and may also be limited further by certain [[encumbrance]]s or conditions in the [[deed]], such as, for example, a condition that required the land to be used as a public park, with a [[reverter| reversion]] interest in the grantor if the condition fails; this is a '''fee simple conditional'''.<ref name="Jensen">
{{cite book
 | title=''Jensen v. City of New Albany''
 | author=Indiana Court of Appeals
 | year=2007 | location=868 N.E.2d 525
}}
</ref>