conditional ownership

Conditional ownership is an interest in property that is subject to some form of condition being fulfilled before the interested party can gain absolute ownership. These conditions can be something required of the person receiving the property interest or can be something unrelated like a year. An individual can sell or gift property with conditions for a variety of reasons, and states differ on how property law should address conditional ownership. Examples of conditional ownership:

  1. Pam gifts her son Ravi $50,000 in trust if Ravi completes undergrad with a 3.0 GPA.
  2. Charles deeds the land beside his house to Caroline upon the condition that Caroline build a fence on the property close to his house. 
  3. Kate bequests $100,000 to each of her children upon the condition that they reach the age of 21. 

[Last updated in June of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]