Legal Dictionary
Main Entry:
feeFunction:
nounEtymology: Middle English, fief, from Old French
fé fief, ultimately from a Germanic word akin to Old High German
fehu cattle
1 : an inheritable freehold estate in real property;
especially : FEE SIMPLE —compare
LEASEHOLD life estate at
ESTATE
absolute fee : a fee granted with no restrictions or limitations on alienability
: FEE SIMPLE ABSOLUTE at,
FEE SIMPLE
conditional fee : a fee that is subject to a condition: as
a : FEE SIMPLE CONDITIONAL at,
FEE SIMPLE b : FEE SIMPLE ON CONDITION SUBSEQUENT at,
FEE SIMPLE
defeasible fee : a fee that is subject to terminating or being terminated
determinable fee : a defeasible fee that terminates automatically upon the occurrence of a specified event
: FEE SIMPLE DETERMINABLE at,
FEE SIMPLE
fee patent : a fee simple absolute that is granted by a patent from the U.S. government;
also : a patent that grants a fee simple absolute
fee patent had never been issued —U.S. Code>
NOTE: Allotments of parcels of land in reservations are held in private ownership by fee patents.
fee tail
: a fee which is granted to an individual and to that individual's descendants, which is subject to a reversion or a remainder if a tenant in tail dies with no lineal descendants, and which is not freely alienable —see also ENTAIL De Donis Conditionalibus in the IMPORTANT LAWS section —compare fee simple conditional at FEE SIMPLE
NOTE: The fee tail developed out of the fee simple conditional as a means to ensure that property would remain intact and in the family. Instead of giving the grantee a fee simple absolute once he or she has a child, which the grantee could then alienate (as by selling), the fee tail creates a future interest in the descendants which prevents the grantee and the descendants from alienating the property. A fee tail is created by a conveyance to the grantee and to the heirs of the grantee's body. In most jurisdictions, the fee tail is not recognized.
2 : a fixed amount or percentage charged; especially : a sum paid or charged for a service fees>
contingency fee
: a fee for the services of a lawyer paid upon successful completion of the services and usually calculated as a percentage of the gain obtained for the client called also contingency contingent fee —compare CHAMPERTY, MAINTENANCE
fil·ing fee
: a fee charged for the filing of a document
NOTE: Filing fees are ordinarily charged in civil matters with the filing of the complaint.
jury fee
: a fee that is assessed in some courts as part of the cost of a civil jury trial
orig·i·na·tion fee
: a fee charged by a lender for the preparation and processing of a loan—in fee : under title that creates a fee
[fee] 
noun, verb, feed, fee⋅ing.