Determinable Fee Law and Legal Definition
Determinable fee is an estate limited to a person and his heirs, with a qualification annexed by which it is provided that the estate must determine whenever that qualification is at an end.
When a grantor conveys a determinable fee, and limits after it a fee absolute, he parts with all his estate and there is no reversion or possibility of reverter remaining in him. [Donehue v. Nilges, 364 Mo. 705 (Mo. 1954)].
Determinable fee is also known as a base fee, qualified fee, or a defeasible fee. [Staack v. Detterding, 182 Iowa 582, 587 (Iowa 1917)].
