Question

Mary owns property in fee simple. Mary would like to lease the property to Jack, who wants to farm the land. Because Mary holds the property in fee simple, she:

a. can lease, sell, or give the land away as she wishes.
b. cannot buy or sell the land but only lease the land.
c. cannot lease the land but only buy or sell the land outright.
d. cannot make any transfers without third-party consent because of the limitations of fee simple ownership.

Answer 1

Mary owns property in fee simple. Mary would like to lease the property to Jack, who wants to farm the land. Because Mary holds the property in fee simple, she can lease, sell, or give the land away as she wishes.

Answer: Option A

Step-by-step explanation:

It is said that a person cannot transfer the better title than what he holds for himself. For any person who wants to sell or lease property must have the absolute ownership to alienate that property.

When we say that Mary holds property in fee simple it implies that she is absolute owner of the property as she has freehold ownership of property. Therefore, she can alienate or dispose it off in any way she wishes which includes leasing, selling or giving it away as a gift.