Mayor of Ocean City v. Taber
1977 Md. LEXIS 887, 367 A.2d 1233, 279 Md. 115 (1977)
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Rule of Law:
When an estate in fee simple determinable is created, the estate automatically expires upon the occurrence of the specified terminating event. The grantee of such an estate can only convey the determinable fee they possess, and their grantee takes the property subject to the same possibility of reverter.
Facts:
- In 1876, Stephen Taber conveyed land, including Lot no. 3, to Trustees for the development of Ocean City, authorizing them to dispose of lots not claimed in a distribution.
- In 1878, the Trustees conveyed a portion of Lot no. 3 to the United States of America for one dollar.
- The 1878 deed specified that the land was granted 'for the purpose of a Life Saving Station.'
- The deed included a reverter clause stating that if the United States failed to use the property as a Life Saving Station, the land would 'without any legal proceedings... revert to the said Trustees, their successors and assigns, absolutely.'
- The United States occupied and used the property as a Life Saving Station for approximately 90 years.
- On June 23, 1967, the United States executed a quitclaim deed conveying all its right, title, and interest in the property to the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, thereby ceasing its use of the land as a Life Saving Station.
Procedural Posture:
- Thomas T. Taber, Jr., and other heirs of Stephen Taber sued the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City in the Circuit Court for Worcester County (a trial court), seeking a declaratory judgment regarding ownership of the property.
- After cross-motions for summary judgment were denied, the parties agreed to submit the case to the trial court for a decision based on the pleadings and exhibits on file.
- The trial court found in favor of the Taber heirs (appellees), declaring that the property had reverted to them.
- The Mayor and City Council of Ocean City (appellant) noted an appeal to the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland (an intermediate appellate court).
- The Court of Appeals of Maryland (the state's highest court) granted a writ of certiorari, agreeing to hear the case before it was decided by the Court of Special Appeals.
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Issue:
Does a conveyance by a grantee holding a fee simple determinable estate, which ceases the property's use for its specified purpose, trigger the possibility of reverter and cause the estate to automatically terminate and revert to the grantor's heirs?
Opinions:
Majority - Orth, J.
Yes. When a grantee holds title under a fee simple determinable, a conveyance that terminates the specified use of the property constitutes the event that triggers the possibility of reverter, causing the estate to automatically end and the property to revert to the grantor's successors in interest. The 1878 deed validly created a fee simple determinable estate in the United States, with a possibility of reverter retained by the Trustees and their successors. Ocean City's primary argument, that the United States acquired title by adverse possession because the original 1876 trust deed was void, fails. A subsequent 1894 court decree that invalidated parts of the 1876 trust did not affect the lot in question, as it had already been conveyed and the United States was not a party to that action. Therefore, the United States' possession was permissive under a valid legal title, not hostile, and adverse possession could not apply. The United States could only convey the interest it owned—a determinable fee. The 1967 quitclaim deed to Ocean City, and the simultaneous cessation of the property's use as a Life Saving Station, was the specific event that terminated the determinable fee. At that moment, the estate automatically ended and the property reverted to the heirs of Stephen Taber, leaving Ocean City with no title whatsoever.
Analysis:
This case serves as a clear modern affirmation of the common law estate of fee simple determinable and its corresponding future interest, the possibility of reverter. The court's decision underscores that the termination of such an estate is automatic upon the occurrence of the specified condition, requiring no action by the holder of the reverter interest. This holding solidifies the principle that a grantee under a quitclaim deed acquires no greater interest than that held by the grantor. Furthermore, the decision clarifies that possession under a valid determinable fee is not hostile for the purpose of an adverse possession claim until the condition subsequent has occurred and the estate has been terminated.
