A. An interest in land that is the broadest property interest allowed by law; full ownership of land.
Listen to pronunciationEditor's note -
The term fee simple comes from the days of feudalism and at that time fee simple was the most comprehensive ownership that "tenant" could have have on the Lord's estate. Now we still use the term to talk about full ownership of land.
Legal Definition -
An interest in land that, being the broadest property interest allowed by law, endures, until the current holder dies without heirs. Often shortened to fee. Black's Law Dictionary® Eighth Edition © 2004
Recent Usage -
"At the heart of the matter is the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the U.S. government, in recognition of the Oneida's support during the Revolutionary War, guaranteed the Nation security "in the possession of the lands on which they are settled." In 1784, that amounted to roughly six million acres in what is now central New York and encompassed a region stretching from the Adirondack foothills to the Pennsylvania border.
Most of the land was sold off -- or, in the view of some Indians, appropriated -- but about 300,000 acres were reserved for the Oneida Nation under the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua. Over the years, because of various shifts in federal policy toward Indians, the Oneidas were generally displaced, allegedly as a result of some illegal acts. Since the 1990s, the Nation has been reacquiring lands that it claims fall within the reservation.
In 1997 and 1998, the Nation purchased for fee simple title 10 parcels in the city of Sherrill, Oneida County, where it operates a gasoline station, convenience store and a textile manufacturing and distribution facility. It also acquired 13 other properties in Madison County. " Federal Judge Rules for Tribe in New York Tax Dispute
John Caher New York Law Journal
06-07-2001