Remainder (law)

In the property law of the United Kingdom, the United States and other common law countries, a remainder is a future interest given to a person, called the transferee or remainderman, that is capable of becoming possessory upon the natural end of a prior estate created by the same instrument. The prior estate must therefore be one that can end naturally, for example on the expiration of a term of years or the death of a life tenant. A future interest following a fee simple absolute cannot be a remainder, because the preceding estate has infinite duration. The source illustrates the idea with a conveyance of a piece of real property called Blackacre to B for life and then to C and her heirs: B receives a life estate, and C holds a remainder that can become possessory only when B dies, so C cannot claim the property during B's lifetime. There are two types of remainder. A vested remainder is held by a specific person without any condition precedent, while a contingent remainder is one whose holder has not been identified or for which a condition precedent must be satisfied.