Fee tail

A fee tail was a conveyance of property in England which limited inheritance to "the heirs of his body" instead of heirs established by law, and prohibited sale of the property to others. If "heirs of the body" run out, then the property reverts to the grantor.

The fee tail was prohibited in England in 1925, and in every state in the United States except Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island, but even in those states a recipient may convert a fee tail to a fee simple (full ownership) during his lifetime. In 1782, New York prohibited the fee tail and treats converts it automatically to full ownership.

Many states never even recognized the fee tail because most American land was considered allodial. In Louisiana, the civil law doctrine of legitime prevents parents from willing their property outside their family if they die with children.

The fee tail is mentioned in both Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (where the problem was not exactly a fee tail) and To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.