Daily AncestorFee tail
Fee tail was a form of land ownership that had to pass to the owner's direct descendants and could not simply be sold; it is now mostly abolished.
A fee tail, also called an entail, limited land to the owner and the heirs of his body, meaning his children and their descendants. The owner could not sell it outright or leave it to someone else.
Words like heirs of his body or heirs male in a deed or will signal a fee tail. It has since been abolished in all but four US states.
As seen in a recordWill recorded in a county will book, 1800s
I give my land on Deer Creek to my son Wm. and the heirs of his body lawfully begotten.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Fee tail." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/legal-land/fee-tail. Last checked 2026-10-01.